A Rose Not So Sweet
by Flok's Fiction
Summary: The citizens of Vale are on edge. Crime is on the rise, and notorious criminal Roman Torchwick is spearheading a series of robberies across the kingdom. From Dust Until Dawn was just another Dust shop, or so he thought. From the events of that fateful night, Remnant was changed forever. Meet team RWBY and the students of Beacon Academy. This is their story. (Vanilla, Chapter 9 out)
1. Chapter 1: Ruby Rose

**Hello. Thank you for checking out my story. Keep in mind that I originally wrote this for a friend that had never heard of RWBY. As such, it's intended to make sense to someone unfamiliar with the show. I'm aware it's not perfect as a standalone work, but I'm trying.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Ruby Rose

An outsider might find it strange that the kingdoms of the continent of Remnant ever cooperated, even out of necessity. History has taught us that geographic, economic, cultural, and political differences are humanity's great dividers. Remnant, however, is held together by a force far stronger: the threat posed by the creatures of Grimm, and the need to collectively oppose them. Once there were many Kingdoms, but now only four remain.

Over eighty years ago, a war was fought between those kingdoms, shattering the fragile peace between them in a display of bloodshed. The toll they inflicted on each other was immense, but the majority of casualties came from an increase in the number of attacks by Grimm. After the war, the attacks returned to their usual numbers. Even the creatures themselves seemed more docile, as if respecting the newfound peace.

From this, the people of Remnant realized two things. First, the threat posed by the Grimm was too great to fight amongst themselves. They needed to cooperate, or die. Second, the increased presence of Grimm was no accident. Some primal power within them grants them the ability to sense pain, fear, and hatred, the way an animal might smell blood on the wind. War has a way of stirring those up, so in order to placate the monsters, peace had to come about between the powers of the continent.

Vacuo, Vale, Mistral, and Atlas, formerly known as Mantle. The four nations that after so many years continue to stand against the darkness. They do so only thanks to the stalwart bravery of hunters and huntresses, men and women who pledge their lives to the protection of those who can't. Four main academies, technically independent but associated with their neighboring kingdom, are responsible for the training of these heroes.

Huntsman and huntresses are highly skilled, but they are aided by a mysterious force: their aura. Individuals powerful enough can coalesce their soul into a shield to protect them from harm. While their aura stands, they are free from injury but not pain. Aura can also manifest in a more unique and obvious way, known as a semblance. It is a mysterious power fueled by aura, unique and random for most individuals who possess it, but in some cases it is hereditary. While a semblance can be any sort of power, ones involving clones, movement, or changing one's appearance are common.

Lastly, it is impossible to talk of Remnant without mentioning Dust. Its discovery and subsequent use leveled the playing field between humanity and the Grimm. Dust is a mysterious crystalline mineral found in a variety of colors, mined from locations all over the continent. This multifunctional substance can generate vast amounts of energy, either by slowly emptying it or releasing it all at once. This makes it ideal for power generation, as well as ammo and explosives. Mysteriously, it loses all power upon leaving the borders of Remnant, making it useless as an export.

With the powers of Dust at their disposal, man fought back the Grimm and ushered in a new age. For the first time, you could live your entire life within the safety of a kingdom's walls, never once seeing a Grimm outside of a movie or picture. Naturally, some people grew complacent. The huntsman and huntresses were not among them. They respected the threat posed by the incarnate darkness and trained hard as ever to protect the tenuous peace. Dust revolutionized Remnant, in more ways than one.

It's funny then, to think that it was once just known as a pretty stone. All along, their savior was among them. The same was about to be true again.

* * *

 _How pretty Vale is in the evening,_ the man thought. _What a fine time to be taking care of business._

The shattered moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the dark alleyways otherwise untouched by the dust-powered streetlights. The light was just enough that the silhouettes of people could be made out — not, of course, that there were many. Summer had gone and with it the long, bright evenings and general optimism. Civil and well-meaning folk had long since retired to the safety and comfort of their homes. Shops were closed; doors locked and barred. At the end of the boulevard, only a single store remained open.

Inside the store, the shopkeeper ran his bony finger over the counter with mindless repetition. It had been a long day, but it wasn't quite late enough yet to justify his counting the lien or locking the door. As such, he continued his silent vigil, reflecting on the long life he had lived.

Many years before, he was much younger, living in Mistral. Like all young people, he had visions of adventure, wealth, and power. More importantly, he wanted to get as far away from the squabbling bureaucracy, culture, and corruption of his birthplace. Eventually, he made it to Vale, but there his journey stopped. Why? He couldn't say. Of course, the stop was meant to be temporary. Travelling had sucked up more of his savings than he had anticipated, and he had planned to stop only to save up enough lien to continue his journey.

In need of a way to support himself, he opened an upscale Dust shop, selling the lifeblood of society in all manner of forms, plus some other convenience items. The business was such a success that for decades he couldn't convince himself to sell it, and old age had crept up on him. Sometimes he wished that his wanderlust had pushed him farther than it did, but most days he was content with his choices.

Only one customer was browsing his store, a young girl in a red cloak. He paid no attention to her as she perused the weapons magazines in silence, her back to the front of the store. He didn't mind really when kids hung around. As long as they didn't steal anything or trash the magazines.

A jingling bell announced the entrance of new customers: a tall man and several shady thugs. The man brushed his flaming orange hair back and straightened his loose white coat. He carried a cane but reached the shopkeeper without using it. He finished his cigar and ground it into the counter, eliciting a frown from the man behind it.

"I'm in the market for some dust," the new customer said. "The name's Roman."

"Of course, sir," said the shopkeeper. "What exactly is it you would like to buy?"

He smiled a, slow crooked grin. "Who said anything about paying?"

Realization dawned on him. "You're Roman Torchwick, aren't you? You're wanted for grand larceny," said the shopkeeper. "I got suspicious when I saw your hair."

"I guess you weren't suspicious enough."

As if on cue, Roman's henchmen rushed forward, flanking the shopkeeper on both sides as they drew their pistols. The shopkeeper glanced desperately at the back of the store, but the girl in red seemed oblivious to the commotion.

"I don't want any trouble," the shopkeeper conceded. "I'll give you the money, just don't hurt me."

Roman scoffed. "Do I look like I need whatever petty cash you keep in your register? Keep it. We're here for the dust."

At his direction, two of the henchmen split off and began draining dust from the canisters on the wall, while the other two kept their weapons leveled at the distressed shopkeeper.

* * *

Ruby Rose's eyes scanned the back cover of the magazine, focusing on a small notice about new collapsable staves. Her headphones were sliding off so she on shifted them so they were once again centered on her ears. She was aware she had been loitering a while without buying anything and considered purchasing a copy of _Modern Dust Enhancement_ just to be polite.

Her magazine had just closed when she felt a rough prod on her shoulder, accompanied by a muffled voice. Ruby turned, replacing the magazine and removing her headphones, expecting to see the owner of the shop or perhaps an irritated customer in line for the magazines.

"—in the air," the man said.

 _Who was this guy? Why was he wearing sunglasses?_ "Sorry?" she replied, frowning.

"Don't _sorry_ me, you clueless idiot," the man snapped. He drew a gleaming red machete and leveled it at her. "Stick your hands up, and go to the front of the store."

Ruby's eyes widened. What was his problem? She glanced at the front and noticed identical thugs with guns trained at the shopkeeper. They were scowling as their apparent leader rifled through the display case. Her frown deepened. "Are you robbing me?"

The thug smiled, extending his palm. "You could call it that. The boss said to leave the register, but he didn't say nothin 'bout strays like you. Hand over what you've got and consider it a lesson against staying out this late, a little girl like you."

Had he been paying better attention, he would have noticed a change in Ruby as he said 'little girl': a slight tightening of her jaw, a clenching of her fists, a shifting of her feet. But he didn't notice, and the last thing he remembered was a fierce anger emanating from the girl's piercing silver eyes before a colossal force slammed into his gut, propelling him against the wall in a heap.

Roman leaped up, his eyes sweeping the room for threats and brandishing his cane. He looked around further, finally meeting Ruby's defiant gaze at the back of the store. At the snap of his fingers, the remaining henchmen warily advanced.

Ruby dashed forward, gaining speed rapidly even in the confined space of the shop. Taking a small hop, she staggered the thug with an explosive kick to his chest, their momentum sending them both tumbling through the front window.

"Get her!" hissed Roman, snapping his briefcase closed. He had what he wanted, and knew he shouldn't draw attention to the heist by starting a violent brawl in the middle of the street. He kicked the door open, flipping open the base of his cane.

Ruby rolled as she landed, stabilizing on one knee as she unclipped a large object from her belt. She clicked a button. It emitted a mechanical whirr, expanding laterally and forming a vicious crimson scythe larger than she was. Torchwick's remaining thugs skidded in their tracks. Ruby felt more confident with her scythe, Crescent Rose, in her hands. It had been too cramped inside the store to expand it, and hand-to-hand combat wasn't her specialty. Finally, she could teach these crooks a lesson. It was her chance to be the hero.

Spurred on by Roman, the remainder of his squad rushed towards her. All too aware of her scythe's lethality, Ruby flipped the blade over. As they approached she used her range to her advantage, clubbing the legs of her opponents with the blunt edge of her scythe and knocking them to the ground.

The fight became more complicated when Roman fired a hissing projectile from the end of his cane. Ruby leaped backward too late but managed to deflect the bullet with the edge of her weapon. She gritted her teeth and quickly glanced around. No one had noticed the gunshot. Calling for help on her scroll would be too slow. She was tired of being gentle with these clowns.

Ruby spun her scythe in a circle, watching as it mechanically morphed into a gun. She fired it downward, letting the weapon's recoil vault her into the air. As she fell, she changed it back to a scythe and smashed the heads of both thugs, who had just stumbled back to their feet.

Roman whistled as the last of his posse slammed unmoving into the ground. "Well, Red, things were a bit more _eventful_ than I anticipated. I'd love to stick around and chat, but really, I don't get on well with police folk. They are _such_ a bore."

Roman hefted his stuffed briefcase in one hand, pointing his cane with the other. A bullet flew out of the end. Ruby spun her scythe to deflect it but it exploded before it reached her, sending billowing smoke into the air. Diving out of the growing cloud, she spotted her target nearing the top of a nearby ladder. She dashed after him.

"I'm finished here," whispered Roman into an earpiece. "It was messy but we've got the dust. I'm being tailed and you'll need to grab me from a new spot. I'm sending you coordinates." He paced to the far edge of the roof, rapidly keying commands into his scroll. Cinder was supposed to be his escape. All he could do was hope she had picked up his location, and that the Bullhead wouldn't attract too much attention.

The complete failure of his men irked him immensely. Junior hadn't specified how much training they had, but since they worked as bouncers he assumed they could at least shoot straight. Hopefully, they would get to rot in jail a few years for the failure.

Ruby dashed up the ladder, firing Crescent Rose once to propel her over the edge of the roof. Her feet hit the rooftop with a thud that could hardly be called subtle. Roman turned to face her just as a sleek silver aircraft swooped into position, hovering over the edge of the roof behind him.

So his bomb hadn't worked. "You're fast, Red," he shouted over the sputtering engine. "But you weren't fast enough. Let's see how you handle this little present."

Roman stepped onto the open deck of the Bullhead, tossing a crystalline red object at Ruby's feet.

 _Not another bomb!_ Ruby scrambled backward, knowing she was probably too late.

A figure dropped to the roof, holding out its arm to summon a purple ward. Roman fired at the crystal with his cane. It exploded, sending another boom echoing through the alleyways, but any force it had was sucked into the glowing shield.

The ward faded, revealing the figure more clearly: a stern blond woman in a purple cape and half-moon glasses. She extended one arm toward the Bullhead and motioned for Ruby to stand back with the other.

"Don't let him get away!" Ruby shouted. She couldn't bear to see the criminal escape, not when they were so close to catching him.

The woman called up a grid of sharp stones to float in the air, then flicked a wrist; they were sent flying toward Roman's escape craft.

"Dammit!" Roman hissed as rocks battered the hull of the Bullhead. He dashed to the cockpit and threw open the door. "Cinder, get that Huntress. I'll fly us out of here."

The woman piloting the craft stood up, pressing a finger against his lips. Her eyes were regarding him with disdain. "Oh Roman," she sneered, "you overestimate our plight. I'll end them long before you get the engines turned around."

Cinder deftly stepped out to stand by the open door of the Bullhead, dissipating the latest shower of rocks with a blast of orange energy. She then summoned a column of flame, barely missing the two figures on the roof.

Ruby's mysterious protector wasted no time. With a complex hand motion, she split the array of rocks into three columns and began weaving them into a spear. Ruby switched back to her gun and began firing at the Bullhead.

"You...you're Glynda Goodwitch!" said Ruby. "You work at Beacon."

"Yes, child," said Ms. Goodwitch. "But now is _really_ not the time." She completed her spear and launched it toward the Bullhead with another flick of her hand.

Cinder struck the spear with concentrated surges of flame, slicing it to bits but failing to stop its momentum. A moment before impact, the Bullhead's engine came alive. It swerved out of the spear's path and away into the night.

Ruby immediately turned to Glynda. "Are you really Glynda Goodwitch? The one that works at Beacon? I really, really want to go there! Can you put in a good word for me on account of me, um… meeting you! Here. And stuff. And…" Her squealing petered off at the sight of Glynda's expression.

"We," said Glynda, "will discuss that later."

* * *

 _Later_ turned out to mean after Glynda had chewed her out over her 'reckless behavior', after the police had come, and after those police had left without even thanking her. Ruby's thoughts were on Beacon, so she nodded through the interrogation and waited for it to be over. Finally, Glynda approached her again. "Miss Rose, someone wishes to speak with you. Come with me."

Some time later they arrived at a dark, ornate building. Ruby recognized it as the registration office for Beacon Academy. She had come here last spring when her older sister Yang had applied to the prestigious school. Glynda led Ruby to a small conference room set off of the main hallway.

"Miss Rose," said Glynda, "I don't want to give the impression that you are being rewarded for your _vigilante_ justice, but there is someone here who has an opportunity they would like to share with you."

"Thank you, Glynda," a voice said. "I'll take it from here." Ruby straightened in her chair as a slight, gray-haired man entered.

"Ruby Rose." he said, leaning in slightly "You have... _silver eyes._ "

"Uhm...yeah," she mumbled. "Is that—"

"No matter. Tell me what happened tonight. The way you saw it."

"Don't you know already?" _Hadn't the police already told him?_

He didn't answer but continued to look at her expectantly.

"Well, I was, uh, in the store. The Dust shop. But I was actually just reading this magazine. It was kinda cool. Then these thugs came in and tried to rob the store!"

"And you stopped them?" he said, anticipating her answer.

"Only because they tried to rob me! It wasn't like they ignored me or anything," she paused. "You mean I should have just let them take my money?"

Ruby couldn't believe it. Her dad, her teachers, basically every adult in the whole world decided right about her age that everything was your responsibility. If there was a problem, and you could fix it, you should do so. If you couldn't defend yourself, then don't trust yourself to. But she _could_ defend herself, and others as well. Now Ozpin was turning that on its head.

"Well, it's a tough call," he said. "You weighed the risks — or at least I hope you did — and in this case, it paid off. Or did it? You failed to stop the robbery, and you caused extensive property damage."

"The window was an accident! And they were the ones who set off bombs, not me." Ruby complained. That crazy guy had shot fire Dust at her! He hadn't even bothered to shape it into a proper form, he had just blown it up. Did they think her response was inappropriate?

"Perhaps. But had you not engaged, they wouldn't have needed to."

Ruby squirmed in her seat. The stark room she was in only accentuated the feeling of interrogation.

"You are not in trouble, Miss Rose. I just want to be sure you understand the limits of your abilities and the consequences of your actions. That's something your uncle always had trouble with."

"You mean Uncle Qrow? How do you know him?" This guy was about as different from her laid-back and badass Uncle as she could picture.

He didn't answer but instead removed a pair of spectacles from his pocket and put them on.

Suddenly, she realized. "Oh, I recognize you now. You're Professor Ozpin! You're the headmaster of Beacon, but I guess you used to teach. Uncle Qrow mentioned you."

"He did, did he?" said Ozpin. "It's gratifying to hear he holds such... _fond_ memories of his time in my class." Ruby couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic.

"They weren't _exactly_ fond memories." She said, blushing a little. From what she had heard, Qrow respected Ozpin's skill and intelligence but had more than a few qualms about his teaching style.

"I'm not surprised. Qrow might not have had the most respect for my authority, but he was very talented." He paused to consider. "He trained you to use your scythe, did he not? I can't think of anyone else qualified enough with such an uncommon weapon."

"Yeah, he did. He taught me _everything_. But why am I here?" said Ruby, recalling hours spent at Signal and back home at Patch, where Qrow had drilled into her every advantage, disadvantage, attack, and counterattack possible.

"Of course. You are here because, despite your recklessness, you managed to impress me. That's not an everyday occurrence."

"Uhm, thanks," she said, the compliment catching her off guard.

"Two more years at Signal Academy. Are you looking forward to them?"

"Sure. It's what I need in order to apply to your school, right? And that's the best way for me to become a Huntress." Technically anyone could _say_ they were a huntsman, but without an accompanying diploma from a well-regarded school, you could forget about making a career out of it.

Ozpin smiled. "I appreciate your kind words, but I feel you are qualified to attend Beacon already.

"What?" She already worried about being good enough to get in after _two more years_.

Glynda stepped back in, clearing her throat. "Miss Rose, few students your age, or older, could fight like you did back there. I also see you listed at the top of all your current classes at Signal. Moving you ahead would be unusual, but considering where you are now, it might be preferable."

"So you're telling me to move ahead two years to start at Beacon? But I'd leave all of my friends behind!"

"I'm asking you," Ozpin corrected.

"I want to, it's just that I wouldn't know…wait, did you say two years? So I'd be in the same year as Yang! Yess!"

Glynda nodded. "You'll have some classes with her. I'll make sure."

"What are we waiting for then? Call my dad! Can I sign up now?"

"Tomorrow, Miss Rose," said Glynda, exasperated. "You must rest, even if you don't feel like you need it."

 _I can't believe it,_ thought Ruby. _I thought they were just going to yell at me more, but now I might go – no, I am going_ — _to Beacon!_

* * *

The haggard concierge accepted the duffle from the student with a sigh of relief. The first day of the Beacon semester seemed endless. It took three full airships to transport all the students, and from the weight of their bags, it felt as though they were taking everything they owned with them. He placed the last bag atop the orderly pile and admired the symmetry.

A blunt object struck the back of his head, toppling him into the stack. Staring at the ruins of his efforts, the concierge examined the small red suitcase that had hit him. _R. Rose_ , the tag on it read.

* * *

 _Gonna be late! I can't be late!_ thought Ruby as she sprinted toward the airship. She noticed a hatch labeled "Baggage" and lobbed her bag in its general direction, not even looking to see if someone grabbed it. She took the stairs three at a time and squeezed on board just as the automated doors slid closed.

Yang Xiao-Long was starting to be concerned. It was 1:59, the doors were about to close, and this was the final airship. Ruby still hadn't arrived. _Should I be panicking?_

Of course, her sister could have snuck past her, but that possibility was neither likely nor appealing. Maybe Ruby just didn't see her, but it was hard to miss Yang's hair: it fell nearly down to her waist and was so blond it appeared golden in the sunlight.

"Ruby!" Yang said, grabbing hold of her sister and hugging her. "You're here!"

"Ughh," said Ruby, her voice muffled. "Yang, let go of me."

"Ah, chill out. I was just worried you wouldn't make it." She bounced energetically on her feet.

"Were you hoping I wouldn't?" she teased.

"Of course not. Why wouldn't I want my favorite sister at Beacon with me?" Yang laughed and hugged her again.

"What would I need to do to _not_ be your favorite?" Ruby smirked.

"Well technically, you're my least favorite too. Anyway, at least you didn't miss the flight, that's what matters. For all your enthusiasm, you sure took your time getting here." She wasn't exaggerating. Since Ruby had returned home a week ago, she hadn't stopped talking about going to Beacon, and the events of that fateful night.

"Well, I'm glad I made it," Ruby said with relief. "Hey, we're taking off!"

The airship broke free from its dock, engines smoothly lifting it into the air. Students pushed their way to the windows, looking down at the glimmering skyline of Vale.

"Look!" said Ruby, pointing. "You can see Signal from here.

"Missing it already?" asked Yang.

"Not yet. I told my friends I'd write. They didn't blame me for going, at least." She was lying, but only sort of. Her classmates did want to hear about her new school, but she really hadn't had any close friends there.

"That's nice. I have some friends going to Beacon, but I don't think we'll be that close anymore."

"What? Why?"

"You. You'll drive them all away," she said, laughing.

"Yang!" Ruby pouted, turning away.

"Kidding. I don't think I'll see them much, for real. We'll spend most of our time with our teams."

"Team, you mean." Ruby couldn't imagine not being on a team with her sister. Being the youngest _and_ not knowing anyone? Not a recipe for a fun year.

"Maybe we won't be on the same team. It'd be good for you. New friends."

"Professor Ozpin said we'd share classes, so I can fit in and stuff."

"Classes, fine. But I don't think Ozpin picks the teams." Yang didn't know that for sure, but she'd heard some rumors.

Some of the students were clustered around a projector screen. A white-haired, businesslike woman was describing regional crime trends. A news report, or something. Then Ruby noticed a familiar face. "Yang!" she said. "It's the guy from the store. He's on the news!"

The two girls walked over to watch.

A male voice was speaking. "—notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick, is still at large," he said. If you have any information as to his whereabouts, contact the Vale Police Department."

The white-haired woman returned as the mug shots of a much younger Torchwick faded from view. "Thank you, Cyril," she said. "Our next story is about the chaos that occurred at the Faunus Civil Rights protest. This annual event mobilizes the Faunus population peacefully in their ongoing fight for equal rights and representation."

A new image appeared, an outline of red claws behind a wolf's head. "However," she continued, "the event was interrupted by the arrival of the White Fang, who terrorized civilians. The leaders of the protest claim to have no affiliation with the Faunus revolutionary group. The White Fang have been growing increasingly violent, and—"

The screen fuzzed and was replaced by static. Then the expressionless face of a blond woman appeared. "Hey!" Ruby said. "I know her too!"

"Good afternoon, students," she said. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. Your acceptance to Beacon Academy is out acknowledgment of your desire to protect the innocent, serve as a force of justice, and if necessary sacrifice yourself for the good of society. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. That is our job as teachers: to prepare you for anything and anyone you might come across." After one last stern look, Glynda disappeared.

"Intense, right?" said Yang. "Are they trying to scare us?"

"I think they just want to make sure we're taking it seriously."

The airship crossed the peak of a small mountain, revealing Beacon Academy in all its splendor. The school was nestled in a valley with hills on three sides. Elegant towers topped the thick walls, which were protective but not unsightly. Yang was admiring the view when a blond and sickly-looking boy vomited his breakfast all over her shoes.

"Sorry," he groaned. The boy stumbled away.

Yang just stared, as if not believing what had just happened.

"Well, at least it wasn't your hair," Ruby said quietly. "Oh, too soon?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Please review or PM me if you have any criticism/questions.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

**Here is the partial rewrite, four months after promised. Not because I put four months of work into it, but because I was working on other things and didn't give this the 2-3 hours it deserved before now. Still not my greatest work but at least it's now consistent in writing style with the others.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

The airship landed smoothly, attaching itself to the cliff with a click that resonated through the courtyard. Then its doors hissed open and students poured out in waves, spilling onto the cobblestones. Some shouted and cheered, others whispered, but all were excited to finally see the school for the first time.

Ruby and her sister stood to the side, watching the crowd. Groups of students meandered toward the main campus, while others were chatting, sitting on benches, or taking photos at the edge of the cliff.

Her new school brought both opportunity and concern. She would be training in teams, just like real huntsman did. While she couldn't deny that she _wanted_ to work with others, it had just never worked out before. Everyone at Signal her age hadn't taken their work seriously, and everyone that did had been older than her.

"This is going to be the best year ever," Ruby said to no one in particular, and she meant it. "Yang, look at that!" Nearby two students were dueling, their broad-bladed spears twirling and stabbing with incredible speed.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang teased, yanking her sister away. "No more drooling over the latest flashy gadgets you laid your eyes on. Not until you make some friends, at least."

Ruby's voice went serious. "They're not gadgets, Yang. They're our weapons; they might as well be part of us. What's wrong with obsessing over them? And don't pretend like you're not partial to Ember Celica yourself."

"Nothing's wrong with obsessing. They're just not a substitute for real friends."

"Crescent Rose is not a substitute," she said, crossing her arms. " _I_ have plenty of friends!"

"Who, exactly?" Yang teased.

Her face reddened. "I didn't say here! I only just arrived, you know. I'll get there after I learn to—" Her voice trailed off.

"Learn to what?"

"I don't know that yet Yang, that's why I'm here. You're one to talk about it, because if I remember you were never that crystal clear on why you wanted to become a huntress."

"Because I wanted to?"

Ruby puffed out her cheeks. "That's not a real answer."

"Maybe not, but it's good enough for me. I'll figure it out later. Bye, Ruby!" she said, then rushed off into the crowd. Her pleated coat swished behind her.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled in the direction she had gone. "Where do we go? What do we do? You can't just leave me already..."

A golden mane bobbed over the sea of heads. "Sorry sis!" she called back sarcastically. "Gotta see my friends! We'll catch up later!"

Ruby tried to follow, but a trolley got in the way and she rammed into it. Suitcases clattered to the ground and opened. A jar shattered, the dust inside dissipating into the air.

A white-haired girl stalked up to her. "What were you _thinking_?" she said, shaking the broken jar in her face, scattering dust everywhere. "Oh, don't even answer! You weren't thinking, that's what. Can't you watch where you're going?"

"Don't shake that near my nose!" said Ruby obliviously. "It's itchy."

"I will stop shaking it," she said, "When you apologize for breaking it. A jar of that size and purity costs more than a _month_ of tuition here."

"Well then — how come you can afford it?"

"Because she's Weiss Schnee," someone said. "An heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Remnant's largest miner, producer, and distributor of dust."

"At least _someone_ recognizes me," said Weiss scornfully.

"I wasn't done. They're also infamous for undercutting competitors, signing special-interest deals with Atlas, and for their practice of abusing and underpaying Faunus."

"How dare you?" she hissed.

The girl in black merely shrugged, then turned and walked away. Ruby meant to snort, but her nose was still itchy and full of dust.

"Ahh-choo!" Ruby's sneeze ignited the fire dust, engulfing Weiss' head in a brief burst of flame.

"Screw you," snapped Weiss. "You immature, thoughtless _brat_!"

Brushing ashes from her face and dress, she stalked away toward the school. Ruby flopped down on the stones and breathed deeply. Her attempt at making friends was off to a horrible start.

"Hey!" someone said. "Are you okay? Ruby hurriedly sat up. It was the boy from the airship, who had deposited his lunch on Yang's shoes.

"Oh! No, um, I'm fine. Heh. I was just resting." Ruby took his hand and stood back up. He was wearing a patchwork of armor over a hoodie and jeans.

"So, what's, uh, your name?" he said.

"Oh! I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you. Weren't you the one that threw up earlier?"

He cringed at the mention of it. "Yeah. I feel pretty bad for that girl. I mean, I'd have offered to help her clean up, but that would've been sort of weird, and she probably wouldn't have wanted my help anyway." He turned to walk back toward the school.

"Don't worry. Yang won't hold it against you, once she cools off."

"Is that her name? Huh. I should at least apologize a little less lamely than I did. You know her, I guess?"

"She's my sister."

"I'll pretend I saw a resemblance."

Ruby didn't feel like explaining they had different moms. "We do look nothing alike," she said. They were nearing the courtyard when Ruby realized something.

"Hey! What's your name, Vomit Boy?" she said. "I'm guessing you don't want me calling you that."

He blushed. "The name's Jaune Arc. Rolls off the tongue, don't you think?

"Sure."

"It's very popular with the ladies."

"It is?"

Jaune couldn't tell if she was confused or just being sarcastic. "It will be," he amended. "I'm still working on it."

Ruby giggled. "I can tell."

Jaune realized the trap he had fallen into. "I didn't mean it like that," he stammered. "We're just being social, right?"

"Yeah….So, what kind of weapons do you use?" asked Ruby, trying to turn the conversation to a less awkward ground, "Because I have this."

She clicked Crescent Rose and it expanded into a scythe. Its blade struck the stone tiles with a thud.

Jaune jumped backward a step. "Woah. It's huge! And the color matches your outfit and everything. I've never seen a scythe user before."

"It's also a customizable, high-velocity sniper rifle."

"A what?"

"It's also a gun."

"Well, I can't really top that, but I do have this sword," said Jaune, pulling out a simple steel sword with a blue leather grip, "and this shield." The shield was white with a gold rim and had a crest in the middle in the shape of two golden half circles.

"That's cool!" said Ruby.

"You don't have to be nice. It's just so simple compared to yours."

"Don't say that, Jaune. A weapon is all about functionality. I just really, really, overdesigned mine. Yang even says I have a weapons fetish – actually, uh, never mind about that. So, what's special about your sword and shield? And where'd you get them?"

Jaune was unsure of what to say, having never been asked so much about his weapons before. "The sword is just a sword, and the shield collapses, so when I get tired of using it, I can just—" he clicked the shield, and it folded inward on itself, forming a scabbard. "—and where I got them? They were a family heirloom. My great-great-grandfather's, apparently. He fought with them in the Great War."

"That's quite a history."

Jaune looked down at his shoes. "Yeah. It's a lot to live up to."

"Hey, where are we going, anyway?"

"Don't look at me."

"Wait where are we? Isn't there an orientation starting?"

"I think we should probably find it."

"You think?"

* * *

Ruby and Jaune entered the auditorium late, just as Professor Ozpin was stepping up to the podium.

"Ruby!" shouted Yang from the front row. "Over here!"

"Sorry Jaune," said Ruby, "I'll see you later, OK? I'm coming, Yang!"

"I'll keep this brief," began Ozpin. "Today you are here because…."

Jaune was proud at how little he'd embarrassed himself. Most girls were just so quiet, or bitchy, or whatever, and he'd struggled to deal with them. But the conversation with Ruby had gone so smoothly. Although he hated to admit it, that was likely a product of her friendly and trusting nature and not his social prowess. He still had a long way to go there.

"–and that brings me to the end of my speech," said Ozpin. "But hold on just a moment. I have some important information. If you're a returning student, you should go find your team and check into your dorm. You can pick up keys from the student office. New students, all of you will be staying in the South Wing for tonight. Your initiation is tomorrow. Take this time to find a locker for your gear and get to know your fellow students. Thank you."

The crowd dispersed through the school, looking for their teams and lockers.

* * *

"So how did your first dig go, Ruby?" Yang said.

"He's not a dig," she countered.

"Uh huh. Well, did you meet anyone else?" She was just a little curious about the sort of people her sister gravitated to.

Ruby shuddered as she remembered what had happened earlier. "Sort of. I tripped over this rich girl's bags, and then she yelled at me, but I deserved it because I broke her stuff, and then I burned her, and–"

" _You_ ," snarled Weiss, who had crept up behind them, "still haven't apologized to me, you sniveling little shit."

"I was going to! What was I supposed to do? You left before I could." Ruby realized she was tearing up a little and quickly wiped it away.

"Woah. Calm down," said Yang. "Didn't realize it was this bad. Who are you?"

"Weiss. _Weiss Schnee,_ " she said, sneering in satisfaction.

"OK _Weiss Schnee_ , don't call my sister a little shit. And Ruby – don't burn people. I think that part's obvious."

"But she shook fire dust in my face!"

"Only because you broke the jar," Weiss snapped.

"That's enough," said Yang, "argument over. Why don't you two forget that, pretend you never met, and try to be friends? Or at least not enemies."

"Alright then... Hiya! I'm Ruby! Do you wanna hang out?"

"Oh my gosh yes!" Weiss' voice dripped with venomous sarcasm. "We can go shopping for school clothes, and talk about all the cutest boys. Like tall, blond, and... scraggly over there. He's such a _wimp_." She gestured to Jaune, who was walking by.

"Don't talk about my friend like that," said Ruby.

"Oh, you're _friends_ with that loser? Forget this, I'm leaving." Weiss stomped away, heels grinding into the smooth-worn floor.

Jaune squeaked in in Weiss's place. "Sooo," he asked with comical suaveness, "who was that?"

Ruby and Yang rolled their eyes simultaneously. "Weiss Schnee," they said.

"She's beautiful."

The girls rolled their eyes again. "What?" asked Jaune. "You think she's — out of my league or something?"

"Absolutely," Yang said, "but you have other obstacles, such as her being a stuck-up jerk with a chilly personality. Also she hates you."

"She's pretty mean," Ruby added.

"Weiss has obviously never experienced true love, never found a person who cared enough to look past her icy shell. I, Jaune Arc, will be the one to melt her frozen heart, free her from the curse of solitude, and bring her to warm hearth of passion for all eternity."

"You done?" asked Yang.

Ruby giggled. "'Warm hearth of passion'?"

"I'd roll my eyes again," said Yang, "but I've already used my quota."

Jaune feigned surprise. "I'll have you know, poetry is one of my many talents."

"So Mr. Arc," asked Yang, "What are your ambitions? Other than rhyming couplets and slayin' it with the ladies."

"I want to be a hero. A respected one, like my great-great-grandfather, or even my dad. I don't care what kind, but someone selfless and strong. Someone who protects others, instead of relying on them all the time.."

"Seems like you're in the right place," joked Yang.

"I'm kind of the same," said Ruby. "Yang read me so many stories about brave hunters and huntresses fighting Grimm and saving people, what else would I want to be?"

Yang laughed. "Y'all are motivated. I just want to have fun, and this just lined up with that so that's what I did. Being respected and helping people is just a bonus."

Jaune began to walk away. "I'll catch you all later. You two down for joining Team Arc?"

"You wish," teased Yang. "See you later."

"Bye Jaune!" Ruby called.

* * *

Ruby snaked through the raucous crowd, dodging flying pillows and shirtless boys wrestling around the tables. I'm the youngest one here, she thought. Why do I feel like I'm the only one taking it seriously?

Setting down her sleeping bag in the corner, she pulled out some paper. Writing to her friends via scroll was easier, but a letter would be a lot cooler. Especially on her new paper. Earlier in the day, she had gotten her hands on some official Beacon Academy stationery, perfect for pacifying her over eager classmates back at Signal.

Yang flopped down next to her. "Whatcha' writing?" she asked energetically.

"I'm just writing the gang at Signal. They want to know what's happening."

"Cool. When you're done there's a pillow fight going on."

"Uggh. Isn't there anyone here besides me who wants to be quiet? Why won't people just talk or sleep or something?"

"Everyone's too excited for initiation to sleep. Hey, she's being quiet." She gestured to a black-haired girl reading nearby.

"Oh! I met her — well, sort of. She got Weiss off of me after our little, you know, fight, but she left before I could say anything."

"Now's your chance! Go and say thank you, or something." The girl had claimed the only armchair in the room. She was wearing a plain black nightgown and had an upright bow in her hair; she reading a thick leather book with decided interest.

"She looks busy," complained Ruby.

Yang grabbed her arm and began dragging her toward the armchair. "Nah. Come on, I'll go with you."

The girl's eyes didn't waver from her book even as Yang deposited a protesting Ruby on the ground in front of her.

"Helloo!" she announced. "Ruby here has something to tell you."

Amber slits peered over the top of the book with a hint of annoyance. "Yes?" she said.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Ruby said.

"For what?"

"Well, earlier, you kinda saved me from Weiss. Even if you didn't mean to."

"You're welcome." Her eyes flickered back down to the page.

"Oh," said Ruby as if she'd expected something more. "What's your name?"

"Blake," she said without looking up.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang interjected, playing with her hair.

I can't believe this, Blake thought. How thick is she? Do I need to spell it out that I have zero interest in this conversation? "Yes," she answered. "I'm enjoying it by reading my book. Well, I was enjoying it."

"Alright Ruby," whispered Yang. "Good on you for trying, but she obviously doesn't want to talk right now. You change your mind about that pillow fight?"

Ruby ignored her. "What's it about?" she said.

Blake seemed surprised. "Sorry?"

"What book is it?"

She closed the cover. The Stran– was all that was visible of the title. "It's about a man with two souls," she said, "each fighting for control over his body."

"Do you like books?"

"You could say that."

"Why?"

"People like books for a lot of reasons. They want to learn or experience something impossible outside of one. Or, if your own life is miserable, a book can be a place for you that isn't as bad."

"Is that why you like them?"

She didn't answer.

"Sorry," said Ruby, "That was kinda rude. It's just that — I love books too. The stories with the selfless heroes saving the world were so cool! They inspired me to start my training. I wanted to be just like them."

"That's admirable. Those stories are inspiring, and fun to read, but life just isn't that simple. There's no such thing as only good or only evil, and no hero is completely selfless. You can't save the world, just make it more safe for a while."

"But we can try, can't we?"

"We can try."

"You know," said Ruby, "You're a lot nicer than you seem."

"Thanks."

She is so naïve, Blake thought. But not insincere. She really wants to do good. I wonder how long it will be before she learns what the world's really about.

"I got you!" a voice said. Yang whacked Ruby to the ground with a circular pillow. Ruby grabbed her legs in retaliation, and within a few seconds, they were full-on brawling on the floor.

Blake's mouth curled just enough to call it a smile, had anyone been looking. At least someone is having fun. She returned to her book in a very different state of mind than she had left it.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Since this is a rewrite the next chapter is already up.**


	3. Chapter 3: The First Step

**Chapter 3 is here. I've had this done 3 days, but my editor took a little while to catch up. Don't blame him though, it's Thanksgiving Break. He's doing an awesome job. I really, really wanted to add an original scene this chapter, but couldn't find a to do that didn't feel contrived. I hope you like my take on it anyway. Going to try to stick to one chapter a week, even though I'm writing another fic right now. Nothing I can do about that.**

Chapter 3: The First Step

Sunlight wormed its way through the curtains of the hall, alerting the sleeping students to the start of the new day. Feeling the light tugging at his eyelids, a raven-haired boy rose to a sitting position.

"Perhaps it's morning," he muttered absentmindedly.

" _Of course it's morning_!" a voice screeched.

His eyes opened to a pair of blue eyes framed by ginger hair staring at him. "Wake up Ren, you lazy butt!" the girl said, "It's time for initiation."

Ren's morning began like many others: dressing and eating while Nora chattered incessantly. It wasn't until partway through breakfast that Ren even _tried_ to listen to the motormouth.

"Shouhh," Nora said through a massive bite of pancakes, "Can you believe we're already on our second day? And we haven't been kicked out yet. We'll be graduating before we know it!"

"That's great, Nora."

Later at their lockers, she was still talking. She had some sort of ridiculous plan for initiation.

"You know," she said, "Everyone's saying they form the teams during initiation."

"Nora, I don't plan on running off."

"I know that! But, what if they split us up? We should have some sort of signal. A _secret_ signal, so we can find each other. Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora."

"Yes, Ren?"

Ren closed his locker. "What sound does a sloth make?"

She froze.

"Exactly," he said.

Her face promptly unfroze. "That's why it's _perfect!_ The signal needs to be stealthy!"

Ren gave up. "C'mon Nora, let's go. For all we know they're having the initiation in the gym." They reached the door just as Ruby and Yang opened their own lockers.

"I wonder what they were arguing about," said Yang, strapping on her shotgun gauntlets.

"Well it can't be any dumber than what _we_ were arguing about," said Ruby. "For the last time, why do you not want me on your team? Is it because you think I'm weak? Or embarrassing?"

Yang approached the loaded question with care. "It's not that I _don't_ want you on my team; I think it will help you — break out of your shell a bit."

"Yang! The only shell I'm going to break is...is…no, that doesn't work. Still, why do you keep saying I'm introverted? That's completely—"

"Ridiculous!" Jaune muttered aloud, accidentally finishing Ruby's sentence. His face was buried in a complex map of Beacon's campus. "How could I have written down the wrong locker number? There's no way I walked this far."

"Jaune," said Ruby, "I think your locker was one floor up. Right at the end. Remember? Do you...need me to show you?"

Jaune flushed. "Nah," he assured, "I've got it covered. Thanks anyway."

 _Crap,_ he thought as he walked away. _Relying on people, again. Ruby already showed me how to use the locker, was nice to me for no reason, and introduced me to Yang. What have I done for her? For anyone? OK, I helped her up, but anyone who's not an asshole would have done that. Common courtesy and all._ Jaune stalked around the corner toward where he dearly hoped his locker was. _Well, I'm not resigning myself to being useless. That's right. Look out world, Jaune Arc is coming for—_

He stopped. Ahead a familiar white-haired girl was talking with someone. _It's Weiss Schnee_ , he thought _. And she's alone. OK, mostly alone, but still good. This is my chance to make a move. Swag mode activated._

* * *

Weiss ascended the stairs with deliberate grace and poise. This was her only opportunity to speak with Pyrrha before initiation began. Hardly the most ideal time, but it would have to do.

Pyrrha was pulling a spear and various pieces of armor out of her locker. Weiss casually paused as she walked by. Her red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. "Pardon me," she asked, "but are you Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Yes," Pyrrha answered quietly, "that's me."

"Well, I'm Weiss _Schnee_." She placed her usual emphasis on her last name, expecting a reaction. Seeing none, she continued. "I was just wondering, have you given any thought to the matter of teams?"

Pyrrha smiled warmly. "Not really. I had planned to just let it play out. I don't have any close friends, so I don't mind which team I'm on."

"I see. But surely you must know there are _many_ students eager to unite with such a strong and renowned fighter."

Pyrrha seemed disconcerted. "I hadn't thought of it that way," she said.

 _Dammit,_ Weiss thought, _I shouldn't have said that. Now she'll think I'm a fan or a desperate nobody, trying to snatch her up for my team. Let's change tack._

"I was thinking," said Weiss as innocently as she could, "that we could be on a team together. I think we both have unique strengths; we'd form a formidable team."

"I think that sounds grand."

 _Sounds grand? Really? It does? That's it then. The strongest and the smartest girls in the school working together, we'll be unstoppable! Oh, I can just see it now, we'll be the greatest team in the history of Beacon!_

"Great!" she answered, her expression revealing none of her maniacal plotting.

* * *

Jaune walked down the hallway, unobtrusively listening in on the girls' conversation. Seeing his chance, he leaned in. "You know what else is great?" he said. "Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

The other girl laughed, but Weiss seemed offended. "How dare you eavesdrop and interrupt our conversation?" she said. "Have you no respect at all?"

"It's OK, Weiss," said Pyrrha. "He was just making a joke." She turned to face him. "I'm Pyrrha. Nice to meet you Jaune."

"Yeah, yeah," he answered, completely ignoring her. "So Weiss—"

"You may address me as _Miss Schnee_ ," she retorted.

Jaune beamed. "Miss Schnee, I couldn't help but overhear your feelings for me yesterday."

Weiss dropped any pretense of civility. "How thick are you? That was a joke!"

"No, I understand. You don't want to be public with your feelings. I won't tell anyone. Anyway, to the point, you've been hearing a lot about teams, am I right?" I've been thinking you and I would make a pretty good one. Eh? Eh?"

Weiss' mouth opened, but Pyrrha spoke first. "Actually Jaune, I think the teams have four students each. And—"

"You don't say," Jaune said, giving Pyrrha a once-over. "Well, hot stuff, I'll save you a spot then. That is, if you're interested."

"Excuse me," said Weiss, "but do you even know who Pyrrha is?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."

Weiss looked frustrated. "She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum Academy."

"Never heard of it."

She gritted her teeth. "She won the Mistral Region Tournaments four consecutive years."

"What?"

Weiss gesticulated wildly, shaking her finger at him. "Her face is on the cover of the _disgusting_ breakfast cereal half the school ate this morning."

Jaune gasped. "You mean Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes? But they only do that for cartoon characters and athletes!"

"And you think _you're_ qualified to ask her to be on _your_ team?"

The message finally sunk into Jaune. He took a deep breath. "I...I guess not," he admitted.

"Actually Jaune," said Pyrrha, "I'd be happy to be on your team. I get the feeling you'd be a great leader."

If Jaune had lost an ounce of his ambition, it came rushing back. He took a step toward Weiss. "So Miss Schnee, I guess Pyrrha's on board for team Arc, are you too? Or do you consider _yourself_ a better judge of leadership?"

Weiss took a step back. "That's a bit too close, Mr. Arc. Pyrrha, can you help me here?"

Immediately, Pyrrha pulled out a sleek golden spear and hurled it at Jaune, pinning him to the wall by his hoodie but leaving him unharmed. Jaune yelped as his breath was knocked out of him. "Hey!" he said. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry Jaune, it's nothing personal. Weiss just needed some space. It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise."

A harsh clicking sound emanated from the dusty speakers on the walls. Throughout the school, students stopped to listen. "Attention first-year students," said the voice of Glynda Goodwitch. "Please make your way to the cliffs by way of the west gate. Your initiation will begin shortly."

* * *

Ruby and Yang were walking down the hall when they heard the announcement.

"Ooh, the cliffs," said Yang, strapping on a pair of brown aviator goggles. "Spicy. How much do you want to bet they're making us jump?"

"I'll take anything over awkwardly socializing," said Ruby.

The two girls spotted Jaune in a crumpled heap by the door.

"What happened, ladykiller?" teased Yang. "Let me guess, it involved our good friend Weiss?"

"Yeah."

"So you could say she — froze your heart?"

"Not funny."

Ruby walked over and pulled him to his feet. "It's OK Jaune," she said. "Yang's been waiting to use that silly pun. It's what she does, after all."

"I'm fine," he said. "At least only my pride was wounded that time."

"Well, there's no sense in moping. We wouldn't want you to be late for initiation."

Supported by Ruby, Jaune shambled outside, dreading the embarrassment he was sure he would soon face.

* * *

A blast of wind swept across the cliff, rustling the leaves of the forest far below. The students stared over the edge of the cliff nervously. Ozpin stepped to the front of the audience with a knowing smile on his face.

"Good morning students," he said. "I hope you all took advantage of your time to sleep. I wanted you all out here at the crack of dawn, but Professor Goodwitch stressed the importance of being _rested._ "

He walked toward a line of metal plates positioned in a row at the edge of the cliff. "Please choose a plate and stand on it," he said.

The students eyed the plates with suspicion but complied, warily stepping onto them.

 _Oh crap,_ thought Jaune, edging onto his plate. _I know exactly what's happening. They're going to launch us off the cliff. What else would these stupid metal rings be for? Are there parachutes? He'll probably give us parachutes, right? He wouldn't forget._

"Now," said Ozpin. "I have a few things to cover. I'm sure you've heard many rumors about the assignment of teams. Perhaps some of the more charismatic among you tried to recruit people for your so-called team. Regrettable, we have our own system for picking teams.."

There were cries of shock and frustration from the students. Jaune looked especially defeated.

"In a few minutes, you will be sent into the forest. Each team is made up of two sets of partners, which are matched based on some….secret criteria. However, your partner for the entirety of your time at Beacon is the first person you meet eyes with in the forest."

"What?" said Ruby. "How is that fair?"

"Yeah!" another boy said. "You're basically saying it's random!"

 _No no no_ , she thought. _What if I can't find Yang?_

"Lastly," said Ozpin, silencing the students, "you need to know your objective. After finding your partner, make your way to the Northern end of the forest and look for a temple. Naturally, you may encounter the forces of Grimm along the way. Your initiation is neither timed nor a competition, so collaborate with all your fellow students, not just your partner. Once you reach the temple, each pair should claim one of the artifacts there. As for what they are...it should be fairly obvious. Once you have it, return to the top of the cliffs. Any questions?"

"Uhm. Yes, uh, sir," Jaune said. "I was just wondering—"

"Good," interrupted Ozpin. "You should be wondering."

Jaune gulped as the first student was launched over the cliff. "Professor?" he asked. "Did I perhaps miss when you handed out parachutes?"

Ozpin sipped his coffee. "No," he said calmly. "You will need to improvise a landing strategy."

 _Landing strategy? What landing strategy? Slide on my shield like a sled? That is the worst ideaaaa —_

Any shreds of a plan evaporated from his head as he was hurtled through the sky. "Help!" he yelled. "Help!"

* * *

Pyrrha fell through the treeline, holding her shield, Akoúo̱, in front to protect her from the stinging branches. Seeing a sturdy branch below, she landed directly on it, rolling and stabilizing against the trunk.

 _I made it,_ she thought, _but what about—_

"Helllllllp!"

— _Jaune._

Pulling out her spear, Miló, she considered the distance and took aim at the plummeting boy. Miló leaped from her hand and whistled through the air towards its target.

* * *

Ruby was in trouble. The ground was rushing up to meet her, and her semblance was being its usual finicky self. After a moment she realized what to do. Expanding Crescent Rose, she hooked the blade over a branch, spinning off it and absorbing her momentum. She hit the ground running.

After a few minutes of seeing nothing but indistinguishable trees, she skidded to a halt. She began to grow slightly worried. _What if I can't find Yang? What if I – no, don't think that, you'll find her. Just have to keep going._

"Yang!" she shouted. Nothing greeted her, not even an echo, not even a rustling of leaves. She wanted to flop down on the ground, but that would be pointless. There would be no friendly Jaune helping her to her feet this time. She would have to be strong and independent, just like she had always wanted to be. At least for now.

Continuing on again, she considered what to do. _I should keep heading north. That's where we're supposed to go. If I find the artifacts and still haven't gotten a partner, there should be one person left. I'll just...hope that it's Yang._

She spotted a roughly northbound path and changed course to follow it. _I have to admit it's probably won't,_ she thought. _Yang Xiao-Long, the last person to find a partner? Unlikely. OK, who isn't likely to have a partner? There's Blake. I sort of know her. She's so mysterious, I don't think she's someone who would seek people out. Or Jaune, he's…nice. I'm sure he's got other stuff going for him. He wouldn't be a bad partner, except for—_

A hulking beast arose from the brush, swiping its razor-sharp claws at Ruby and narrowly missing. The creature's cruel red eyes stared at her with menace.

— _except_ _for_ _fighting Grimm,_ she thought. _Jaune's probably lousy at that. And that's sort of the reason we're here._

The Grimm was an Ursa minor, not as massive as the major variety but equally deadly. Its squat body was heavily armored, and its four limbs were. Dodging another swipe, she leaped backward and pulled out Crescent Rose. She clicked open the magazine and loaded her heaviest shell. _Do you want some?_

Ruby planted her feet to absorb her weapon's recoil and took aim at the crouching beast. Right as she pulled the trigger, a white figure dashed into the space between them. Ruby would have missed the person except for the flash of light reflecting off their thin, piercing blade.

It was too late; she had already pulled the trigger. In desperation Ruby jerked the gun sideways, sending the explosive shell into the base of a rotten tree.

The weak old tree crumbled at its roots and toppled down on the Grimm. Fixated on the threats in front of it, it stood obliviously as the trunk crushed its body into the forest floor.

The girl Ruby had nearly killed silenced the struggling Ursa with a stab to its brain, then whirled to face her.

"You. Could. Have. Killed me!" Weiss hissed venomously. Ruby fell on her butt as the furious girl stalked over to her.

Ruby scrambled away. "But, I….uh, didn't?" she said.

The white-haired girl paced in circles, wringing her hands. "I can't believe this," she said. " A whiny, irresponsible, reckless twit as _my partner_. This will _not do."_ Turning back around, she climbed over the fallen log and stomped away, taking out her frustration on the dry autumn leaves beneath her. Ruby hurried after her.

"Weiss," she said. "I'm sorry about almost hurting you, and about yesterday, too. But can we put that aside? We're supposed to be _partners_."

"Don't remind me," Weiss said. "And partners don't have to be friends. You certainly aren't mine. Now stop slowing me down. I intend to find those artifacts and forget this miserable day."

Ruby grew even more frustrated. In a swirl of rose petals, she appeared a few meters down the path. Weiss looked bewildered. "How did you—"

"See? I'm not slow. Don't worry Weiss, even if we're not friends, I promise I won't be a burden to you."

She dashed off into the forest. "I'll scout ahead," she explained.

Weiss watched as her partner traipsed through the bramble ahead. _It's not that she's slow,_ Weiss thought. _She just wastes so much time, when will she stop having fun and show some respect? For me, for the school. The thing is, I can't force her to do anything. What would Winter want me to do? Make the best of it, I'm sure. But why should I have to make the best of it? This is so not how I thought this would go._

Setting her face to a mask of grim determination as her sister did so often, she followed Ruby deeper into the wilderness.

* * *

 _I'm dead,_ thought Jaune. _I'm not moving. There's no way I survived that fall. Goodbye world, sorry I was so stupid._

He wriggled his toes. _Never mind._

Jaune opened his eyes. He was dangling high above the forest floor, his hoodie caught on something.

 _What a stroke of luck,_ he thought. _It must have caught on a branch._

"Hello Jaune," someone said. "So about that team of yours."

Jaune looked down at Pyrrha, then looked up at the spear that had saved him.

 _Lucky, my ass._

* * *

 **And that brings us to the end of another chapter. I feel like I did some things right, but other things wrong, specifically the pacing. Next chapter will be some more development, like Pyrrha and Jaune, and also setup for the big showdown coming up. As usual, review or PM me with questions and follow if you like it. I appreciate it a lot. See you all in a week, and look out for my new fic, I'm writing the prologue right now and it might come out in a few weeks.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Emerald Forest

**I'm back!**

 **Note: I've thought long and hard about how I should be capitalizing Aura. I've decided when referring to the nature of Aura or Aura as a force I wil captialize it, but when referring to a person's aura ("their aura") I will not.**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Emerald Forest

The Emerald Forest to the west of Beacon was dark and foreboding. Ancient, old-growth trees held dominion over the smaller vines and bushes. They were packed together in a dense sea of leaves and branches, fighting over the light from the midmorning sun. But today there was another source of light.

Yang Xiao Long burned. Literally speaking. As she streaked through the air, she likened herself to a low-flying comet. She soared over a rocky chasm covered with mysterious stone bridges. For a moment she wondered if they had something to do with the temple.

 _There's no way it's that close,_ she thought, firing her gauntlets once again. A trail of fire followed in her wake.

* * *

Blake didn't think she would be the one to screw up. Her plan was to locate a tree—that couldn't be too difficult—, lash off of a branch, and swing down. A simple plan, sure, but complicated by the speed of her fall. The branches were moving too quickly for her to focus on any single one.

In desperation, she threw out her ribbon. It trailed from her arm, catching onto a sturdy-looking branch. Blake began to swing, but as soon as it took her weight the branch snapped off. Her body fell to the ground like a stone.

 _So much for landing on my feet,_ she thought, picking herself up. Blake looked up at the trees; they seemed so much taller now. Her eyes involuntarily flicked upward as a blurry shape zoomed above. Definitely not a bird.

A path would be helpful, even a game trail, but all she found were the tracks of some Grimm. Had Blake attended a Grimm studies class, she could have easily identified it by its pawprints. That was the downside of skipping out on a prep school, although it wasn't like she'd had a choice.

But common sense told her that it was probably running. Why else would feet so small be placed so far apart? And if it was running, that meant other students were nearby, and it was headed towards them. Grimm had no other reason to run.

 _I guess I'm following it then. How bad could it be?_

The path continued for almost half a mile, surprising in the dense forest. The beast's tracks moved closer together as they passed through a rocky field, then spread back out as it left - more evidence that it was running. She had spotted a few paths, but after following the Grimm for so long it felt wrong to give up.

Why was she following, then? She had been so sure earlier that the creature was heading toward the other students, but it could just as easily be meeting up with its pack. Wouldn't that be a nice surprise.

Blake's worries were stifled as the tracks abruptly stopped at a large, isolated bush. She could hear grunting and rustling inside. She sniffed the air: there was a bit of smoke in it. Crouching behind a tree, she peered back at the Grimm's hideout.

The Ursa—a Beowulf didn't grunt like that—didn't seem be moving. All that was left was to sit and wait for it to head out again. Surely, the other students would be acting with similar subtlety.

* * *

"Helllooo! Yang yelled. "This is getting kinda boring!"

The forest seemed to agree, echoing her voice back. She kicked a tree in frustration.

 _This is bullshit,_ she thought. _Ozpin wouldn't shut up about the dangerous crap in the forest, and there's nothing here. That's it. I'm not leaving this forest until I've fought some kind of Grimm._

Yang's bored vengeful eyes spotted a rustling bush. Reflexively, she targeted it. Ember Celica's twin muzzles flashed, incinerating the innocent plant.

 _That better not have been a student..._

* * *

Blake leapt backward as an explosion drove the Ursa from its hiding place. It bellowed, shaking burning leaves from its body. The beast's confusion was replaced by anger as it reared onto its hind legs, ready to strike. Blake began to creep toward it, looking for the source of the explosion.

The singed fur of the Ursa stood out as it crashed down at Yang, who dove out of the way. Then the beast withdrew, preparing for another attack. It still hadn't noticed the figure sneaking up behind it.

Something curled around the Grimm's neck, yanking it off balance. A razor-sharp blade slipped under its chin. The shadowy monster stiffened and its growling ceased. Then its body completely faded away, as though it were only a bad dream. The dust cleared, and the two girls were left staring at each other.

Yang took a deep breath. The red faded from her eyes. "I had that," she said, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

Blake didn't answer.

Well isn't this great, Yang thought. It's Blake, the bookworm. Hardly the social item that she had wanted, but surely there was more to Blake than books. It was unfair to judge her off so little.

"So...let's get to know each other!" she said, clapping her hands. "I'm Yang, you're Blake, and—"

"–I like books."

"..."

Yang wasn't giving in that easy. Sure, they had four years, but she sure as hell wasn't spending the rest of the day in silence. "Can't we just walk and talk?" she countered, mostly kidding.

Blake didn't answer.

* * *

Jaune had no idea where he was going, but he trusted his partner's judgment. Pyrrha moved through the forest with such casual grace that it felt foolish to argue or question.

His own movement, however, left much to be desired. Despite his efforts to follow her cautious tread, his feet kept snagging on thorns or tangling in branches. He was barely keeping up and he knew it. One thing he didn't understand was why Weiss was so in awe of her. He had asked her earlier, but Pyrrha just mumbled something about how _everyone_ acted that way.

 _O.K., her face is on a cereal box. Can't believe I forgot that one._ She was also a bit better than him—fine, a lot better than him—and everyone else too. Maybe that was his problem. He had to earn respect, instead of just pretending he deserved it. That was something he could change, right? Beacon could. That's why he had come there. To become worth of—

"Oww!" he cried, rubbing his face where the branch had scraped it.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha said, turning and running over. "Are you okay?"

The legitimate concern on her face surprised him. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a scratch."

That didn't placate her. "But it's bleeding!"

Now he was confused. "Isn't that normal?"

"Well," she considered, "Yes. Technically. But that branch wasn't very strong, and we haven't even done any fighting yet. Why didn't your aura protect you?"

Alarm bells were ringing in Jaune's head. He thought back to the research he had done when he first devised his plan to sneak into Beacon Academy. There had definitely been something about Aura. It was...a shield? One that he definitely didn't have. As usual, his preparation was falling short.

"Oh yeah," he bluffed, straightening up. "The thing is, I never got an aura. Highly unusual, I know. I figured I could get one after initiation."

Pyrrha laughed. "Good one, Jaune." Then she saw his expression. "You mean...you really don't know?"

"Know what?" he said.

"I'll show you. Follow me."

Outside of the bushes was a small clearing. The trees' shade sheltered the last flowers of summer, and colorful autumn leaves danced in the breeze. At the edge of the field, two squirrels chased each other around a tree stump, squealing as they bumped into each other. It was a celebration of life in all its forms.

Pyrrha laughed again, and the sound carried over the the chatter of songbirds. The sunlight illuminated her red hair, and her armor seemed to glow with radiance. Jaune, for the first time, was aware of how beautiful she looked.

"Don't you see it now?" she said. Her smile was infectious.

"No," he admitted, his face going very red, but not quite as red as Pyrrha's hair. "This is really pretty, but what does it have to do with Aura?"

"Jaune, I just wanted you to realize that Aura isn't something you get. It's inside of us. Around us. Every living thing has aura. Every tree, bird, and insect. It's part of their soul."

"Even the Grimm?"

She frowned. "No. Grimm have no soul, and no aura. They are...something else. That's what separates us. We are the light, and they are the darkness that exists to extinguish it."

"That's why we fight them."

The red-haired girl shrugged. "I think of that as oversimplifying. Humans have plenty of darkness in them as well." A frown crossed her face. "We don't need a reminder of that. Luckily, the light is stronger in most people. It's more than just a physical force. It affects our minds too, and helps us understand the balance of the world."

Jaune's shoulders slumped. "So is my aura just really crap?" he said. It wouldn't have surprised him.

Pyrrha closed her eyes but continued to look right at him, as though she could still see him. The effect was unnerving.

He took two steps back."Wait, wait wait," he said. "You can see Aura?"

"Not with my eyes," she answered, looking down. "But I can _feel_ it. It's hard to explain. I just know you have a lot of it."

"Mine just doesn't shield me, then? Faulty aura, just my luck."

Pyrrha suppressed another laugh, reminding herself of Jaune's inexperience. "It doesn't shield most people, Jaune. They aren't strong enough. Some people can do other things with it too, by channeling it into their weapons and attacks. Or it can manifest as a semblance. But none of that is possible unless you activate it. You become aware. It's usually done with the guidance of someone else."

"I don't suppose that's something you can help with?" Jaune said, wistful. If Pyrrha could help him, it would save him a great deal of embarrassment. He doubted the other students would react so kindly to someone lacking such a basic skill. "I mean, is it quick?"

"It should be," she said. "But I've only done this a few times before. Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Just close them."

Jaune complied, shutting them tightly. He breathed deeply in, then out. One of Pyrrha's hands touched the side of his head, and another his chest. She seemed to be...humming _._ Ordinarily, it would have felt _awkward_ , but her hands felt so insignificant that he barely noticed it.

"Now," she said. "Just wait."

With bated breath, he stood completely still. Once he began to relax, Pyrrha's words began to become coherent.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," she whispered. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

A light began to shine between them. Its brilliance hurt his eyes, even though they were closed. His eyes unwillingly opened. To his surprise, the light wasn't shining from anything he could see. It was just _there_ , passing through himself and his partner as if they were no longer solid.

Finally, the light faded, and Pyrrha slumped over, finished.

"Pyrrha! Are you alright?" He was half-scared he had hurt her, even though he had no idea what was going on.

She stood back up but was still breathing hard. "I'm fine," she assured him, smiling. "I had to use some of my aura to unlock yours. It'll recover quickly enough."

He felt awful. It wasn't fair to Pyrrha that she was weaker than normal because he hadn't gotten his aura sorted out. "You're really fine?" Jaune asked, wringing his hands.

"I'm really fine."

"Are you ready to go then?" he said. His newfound powers might just be enough that he could defend himself. Right now he was barely more than a monster punching bag.

"There's one more thing, Jaune." Pyrrha shuffled her feet. "You might sometimes feel...different."

"What? How?" he said, anxious. It sounded like some kind of Aura puberty, which he was definitely not prepared for, or some convenient technicality, like frying his brain when he used it wrong.

"It's a good thing, in most cases. Aura isn't just a physical shield. It heightens your perception." She paused. "No, that's a bad explanation. It has nothing to do with your actual perception. It's just...sometimes you get this feeling of imminent danger, and you don't know why. But you should trust it."

* * *

Lie Ren didn't consider himself to be a suspicious person. Careful, methodical, maybe, but not suspicious. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.

More than just watched. Followed. He could just make out the sound of something sneaking through the bushes behind him. When he stopped, so did it.

 _Or she,_ he thought. _For all I know, this is some elaborate prank of Nora's._

He had just accepted that explanation when a sharp tingling ran down his spine. That meant only one thing. Danger. Imminent danger.

Then a pair of fangs cut downward at him. Rather than dodge, Ren held firm. He grabbed the knife-like teeth and clung to them like a matador. A wave of fatigue swept over him as his aura flickered into effect, protecting him from the sharp edges. Still holding on, his feet scrabbled against its neck but failed to find traction on the black, slippery scales.

The enormous, diamond-headed snake shook its head wildly, dislodging the boy clinging fiercely to its head. Its body continued to slither out of the trees, its tail not yet visible. Ren dropped to the ground and looked up at the beast. Its red eyes were fixed in a paralyzing glare.

Ren drew his twin pistols. He took a cautious step backward and launched a stream of bullets at the snake, to no effect. Calmly, he circled away from the Grimm, heading toward the clear forest behind him. The agitated creature merely stared.

Then a second snake emerged from the trees, shattering branches and bark as it slithered towards him. It looked almost identical to the first, save for its white scales and dark streaks.

Only it wasn't a second snake. It was the tail of the first one, finally making its appearance. Of course. The mythical King Taijitu was a rare sight in most of Remnant, but one that Ren was very familiar with.

Around Kuroyuri, where he was from, the beasts were living legends. Their two heads, one white and one black, were thought to be symbolic. They represented the balance of day and night, good and evil, and fittingly, life and death.

 _Which is what fighting one is,_ he thought, weaving between the snapping heads. Stormflower was nothing but an irritation to a Grimm this size. Ren let them drop to the ground, then planted his feet and focused as the snake prepared for another pass. His timing had to be precise. When the lead head was only a few feet away, he thrust outward with both palms, then reinforced the blow with his Aura.

The Taijitu's snout flattened as Ren's hands slammed into it. A shockwave reverberated down its body, and the stunned head flopped drunkenly to the ground.

Unfortunately, the other head was still functional, if a bit shook up. It would be after him in just moments. Wasting no time, Ren unceremoniously yanked out the incapacitated head's fangs. They dripped with a yellow venom and from their roots seeped gray smoke instead of blood.

The defanged head gave out a hiss of anguish and flailed about wildly in an effort to crush its attacker. He ignored the convulsing head, his eyes focused on the other half of the snake.

Grimm weren't supposed to show emotions, but the pain and anger on the remaining head's face were impossible to miss. Ren regarded the wounded beast with contempt. In a final, desperate effort, it whipped downward, but Ren just stepped aside. The Taijitu slammed into the earth.

The snake's recovery was halted by the impact of a heavy spike. Its own tooth. Then its body dissolved into smoke.

Waving away the deceased Grimm's essence, Ren retrieved his guns from the ground. So much for him needing a melee weapon. Nora, of course, wouldn't that he had gone without one.

A shame she wasn't here. Nora always loved a good fight. Where was she? Hadn't she said something about—

"Brrrrrrrah! Brrrrrrrah!"

"Hello Nora," he said, unsurprised.

There was a cracking of branches as the energetic ginger-haired girl jumped from the tree.

"Boop!" she said gleefully, poking her new partner in the nose. "Found you."

It had never been in doubt. Ren dusted himself off. "Let's go, Nora," he said. "I think we're close." Truthfully, he had no idea, but Nora was a notorious time waster.

"Do you think we'll find an _Ursa?_ " she whispered, giggling. "I've always wanted a pet Ursa!" As usual, it was impossible to tell if she was kidding.

He frowned, then sniffed the air. "Now that you mention it…"

* * *

High upon the cliffs back at Beacon, Glynda was holding an oversized scroll. She swiped between multiple cameras, watching pairs of students navigate the forest.

"The last pair has been formed, Professor," she said. He didn't answer.

She clicked off the tablet. The headmaster stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down into the forest.

"Professor," she repeated, clicking her fingers.

"Yes, Glynda?" Ozpin answered, his trance broken. He straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose and turned to face her.

She bit her lip. "I was just telling you, Professor," she said curtly, "that the last pair of students. Has been formed."

The graying man raised an eyebrow. "Good," he said. "Unless something...concerns you about the pair?"

"Well," she said, clicking the scroll back on, "It's Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. I just get the feeling she would be better paired with someone more _free spirited_."

"You know we don't influence the pairings, Glynda. Only if there was severe bad blood between two of them."

"Speaking of bad blood," she said, "I'm equally concerned about Miss Rose. She and Miss Schnee have gotten off to a bad start."

"Conflict resolution," the gray-haired professor stated with a smile.

"What?"

"It's an important skill for a prospective huntsman or huntress," he clarified. "You of all people know that. Strength in combat will only take you so far. This is the students' first test of it."

Glynda nodded. "Very well. I'm sure young Miss Rose and her partner will get along in no time."

* * *

"You're a stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby snapped, flopping down on a log.

"I'm not waiting for you," Weiss said coldly. "Stop being an irresponsible brat and hurry up. Or just stay here. I couldn't care less."

"Why are we hurrying anyway?" Ruby said, regaining her feet. "So you can be done with me sooner? They even said it's not a race."

"It may not be, but I have no intention of being out here all day."

"Can't we just settle this?" asked Ruby. Her eyes were pleading. "I don't want you as my enemy. I don't want _any_ enemies!"

Weiss's face was expressionless. "You're not my enemy, Ruby, and for the time being, you're my partner. But I will not be changing my behavior, and I will only spend as much time with you as is required."

Ruby lashed out. "Well, you're just being petty. You only care about yourself and you are definitely, definitely not perfect."

"I'm not perfect," she retorted. "I'm just better than you. And really, that's all that matters, isn't it?" She stalked away.

"Weiss!" Ruby sobbed. She was on the verge of tears.

She turned. Ruby's lip quivered, and Weiss's face softened the smallest amount. "Perhaps that was a bit too harsh," the girl admitted. "We're not friends, but I really can't leave you behind."

The older girl walked back over and extended her hand. A gesture of peace. Ruby took it gratefully.

"Now let's find those relics!"

* * *

"D'ya think we're there yet?" the girl asked.

"No," her partner responded.

"How about now?" she repeated, concealing a snicker.

Blake's lips pursed. "No Yang, you've asked me that thirty times and this time is no different. I'm beginning to think that—" She blinked. "Oh."

Down the hill, scarcely fifty yards away, was a mysterious stone courtyard. It appeared to be ancient yet well-maintained, the cracked stone free of intruding branches and moss.

Yang laughed. Toying with her uptight partner was so much fun.

The courtyard was partially encircled by a wall at shoulder height but calling it a building would be a stretch. The only thing that stood out in what they presumed to be the temple was an array of stone pillars. Blake walked up to one and froze.

"What are these?" she said. "On top of the pillars."

Yang frowned, leaning in close to one. "I don't know really," she replied. "Looks like…chess pieces? Maybe they're the artifacts. Pick one up."

Blake obliged, plucking a bishop from its place, only to drop it hurriedly. Her bow twitched.

Yang snorted. "What, did it bite you?"

Blake's face was red. "No, it just felt... _warm_."

"That's because it was out in the sun. Or they did something to it because it's one of the artifacts, Blake. We're _supposed_ to take one."

"Which one should we take? It's one for the both of us if I remember correctly."

Yang shrugged. "I've never really played chess, but how about this horsie?" She grinned, holding the intricate piece aloft.

Her partner resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "It's called a knight, Yang."

She wasn't being stopped that easily. "What knight?" Yang argued. "I don't see any shining armor. Just a cute little horse."

Finally, a ghost of a smile appeared on Blake's face. "Whatever you say. Take the piece and let's go."

* * *

Jaune placed one foot in front of the other, trying to keep his footing on the slimy rocks. Around him, the air grew colder and damper. By the faint light of his torch, the end of the cave was still nowhere in sight.

Suddenly his foot snagged on something. The cave went black.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out from behind him. "The torch went out."

"I can tell," he responded sarcastically. "Man, we are screwed."

"Should we turn back then?" He felt Pyrrha's hand clasp his.

"No," he said, brushing her hand away. "The relics are _here_. They have to be!" His eyes scrabbled over the walls.

"Jaune," Pyrrha said apologetically, "Couldn't this cave be...just a cave?"

He kept walking, passing a rough corner and feeling a rush of air against his face. A tinge of yellow light stained the air.

"It's the relics!" he shouted, scurrying forward.

Pyrrha's spine was tingling. "Stop!" she cried out. "Do you, feel that?"

"What?"

"That feeling. The one I was telling you about earlier."

"I don't feel anything. Anything unusual, that is."

"Let's go," she said, tugging on his hand. "It's not here. Please Jaune, can't you—"

"Pyrrha," he said. "Either that light is the relics, or it's another way out of the cave. Whatever it is, it's better than backtracking."

"If you say so, Jaune," she said slowly. Her feet uneasily followed him.

The cave widened and the source of the light was soon apparent: a tapered yellow object floating high above their heads.

"There it is!" he said, pacing underneath it. "It's bigger than I thought it would be. Alright then, I'm jumping for it."

Jaune leaped. His hands caught the luminous teardrop shaped object. It began to swing wildly. "It's squishy!" he called down.

But Pyrrha wasn't listening. She was staring at the ten red eyes that had suddenly appeared in the darkness.

"Ja-Jaune," she said shakily, edging backward. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but that is _not_ the relic."

* * *

 **I'm sorry this chapter took longer than expected. There's also too many narrative jumps and too much internal dialogue. Someday I'll go back and fix it up.**


	5. Chapter 5: Players and Pieces

**Enjoy everyone! It has been a long time, although things should be consistent from here on out.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Players and Pieces

The enormous raven dove, swooped, rose, and dove again. Two girls clung tightly to its talons, battered by g-forces and blasts of wind.

"Ruby!" shouted Weiss over the deafening flap of its wings. "Why did I ever trust you? This was a horrible idea."

"But it's working!" she called back. "Look over there. I see my sister, and that grey thing must be the temple. We're almost there."

Weiss's knuckles were somehow whiter that normal. She squeezed her eyes shut, pretending she was just caught in a snowstorm instead of dangling hundreds of feet in the air from a Nevermore's claws.

"I'm not jumping, Ruby," she said. "No matter what you tell me. I'm waiting for it to land, and you should too." Weiss cracked an eye open but saw nothing. Trailing from the opposite talon was a trail of rose petals.

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss screeched, drawing out the name as she clung tighter to her own claw. As she did so, the Nevermore shifted, turning smoothly to circle over the students below. It let out an ear-piercing shriek that reflexively brought her hands up to cover her ears.

Realizing her mistake, she lunged for the claw, catching it precariously by one hand. Folding its wings, the Nevermore prepared to dive.

* * *

Pyrrha fled the cave, sweeping her spear from side to side in front of her to feel for the walls. Behind her, the Death Stalker followed with its two claws and tail folded to fit through the narrow passage. Jaune remained dangling from the giant scorpion's stinger.

While she was concerned for his safety, there was little she could do in the confined space but be trampled underfoot. Of course, the cave was a trap, the question had always been what kind. Only Jaune's insistence and enthusiasm had coaxed her into such a situation, and she regretted it. But regretting it didn't change anything. It was still up to her to deal with the consequences.

The cave seemed to stretch on forever, much longer than it had seemed on the way in, and Pyrrha feared she had taken a wrong turn. Jaune's cries and the sound of hard carapace scraping against rock kept her going. The light level grew slowly, and at last, the mouth of the cave came into view. She scrambled into the light, throwing herself onto the gravel and moss beside the cave. The entrance was too small for the Death Stalker to follow. She exhaled deeply and felt her heart beat once. Twice.

Then the Death Stalker exploded from the cliff face, shattering the puny crevice as it did. Jaune had managed to hold on the entire time, but not without cost. His eyes were glazed and his clothes clung to his sweaty limbs in shreds. Worse still were the tiny rivulets of blood running across his skin. The trip through the tunnel had bled his Aura dry.

Pyrrha's pressed herself against the cliff, unwilling to stand in the beast's way, but as soon as the dust settled she tore up the ground in pursuit of it. Engaging the Death Stalker alone was foolhardy, even for an experienced fighter like herself, but she had to save Jaune.

The scorpion Grimm's exoskeleton arched. It began to buck wildly, and Jaune's grip on it grew even more precarious. "Hold on, Jaune!" Pyrrha warned. She was prepared to catch him if necessary. The alternative could be disastrous, ending with her partner being flung to his death or falling into the murderous claws snapping below him.

But her hesitation had cost her. One final thrash of the Death Stalker's tail and Jaune was hurled airborne. His body, previously limp and groggy, flailed wildly as he flew. Pyrrha pulled up short as the creature turned its attention to her.

Outside the confines of the cave and without a boy dangling from its stinger, the Death Stalker was much more agile. Pyrrha ran in the direction Jaune had gone, heading into the trees as the Grimm swiftly moved to cut her off as if sensing her goal. Its claws slashed at the thick trunks in an attempt to hack its way through.

* * *

Blake and Yang whirled around as the serene valley around them erupted into a flurry of movement. The piercing screech of a Nevermore assailed their ears.

Yang caught a blur of movement in the field to her right. She turned, only to see, impossibly, Jaune flying through the air. His body turned over once before crashing to the ground, carving a furrow in the earth. Pausing briefly to throw her shield over her shoulder, Pyrrha sprinted into the forest before grabbing Jaune by his wrists, dragging him away from the trees towards them.

"Heads up!" called a familiar voice. The two girls stepped apart as a crimson blur materialized between them. Ruby jumped to her feet. "I made it!" she announced, out of breath. Blake looked at her with a confused expression.

"Ruby," Yang said in amazement. "Where'd you drop in from? And don't you have a partner?"

Ruby was excited, speaking in starts. "Nevermore. We rode on it all the way here. Weiss… Weiss wouldn't let go."

"Then where is she now?" Yang's question was answered by another screech from overhead.

"Ruby, I'm going to get you for this!" cried a voice, tinny compared to the screech.

"Come on, Weiss, jump!" Ruby yelled back.

The Nevermore tucked its wings and swooped low over the field, then it stalled in midair and fanned them out, unleashing a volley of needle-like feathers as long as javelins.

"It can shoot those things?" said Yang, as a feather whistled over her shoulder. "Everyone get down!"

With the creature so close to the ground, Weiss took the chance to get free. She released her grip right as the gigantic bird turned, causing her to spin awkwardly as she tumbled through the air. Even when she focused, the ground kept spinning, making it difficult to summon a glyph directly below her. It desperation Weiss poured her aura into the effort, placing sigil after sigil wherever her eyes could see. Too late she realized her aura might have been better saved for the fall.

Weiss hit the ground hard, not quite fast enough to badly injure her, but fast enough to bruise. A look around prompted her to groan. The grass was littered with shining blue rings. She had managed to place a glyph everywhere _except_ the exact spot she fell on. Painfully, she got up and ran over to the others.

By now, Pyrrha had reached the temple, still dragging Jaune's limp but clearly conscious body. Upon reaching the stones Jaune shook his head a few times and got to his feet. The poor boy definitely looked the worse for wear, covered in mud with his clothes shredded and skin scraped. Fortunately, he seemed to be free of serious injuries, and his eyes remained focused and alert despite the fall he had taken.

The six students stood together on the edge of the stones. Their journey hadn't been long. Initiation had begun less than three hours before, but most of them looked like they'd been stuck in the wilderness for weeks.

"The relics are here," Yang explained to the others. "Blake and I already got ours. They're the chess pieces. Go grab yours and we can head back together. If we stay as a group we'll be less likely to be ambushed."

"What did you pick, Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Oh," said Yang, pulling the white knight out of her jacket pocket. It wasn't a decision she had considered seriously, since they probably wouldn't be allowed to keep the relics after handing them in. "I picked a knight."

"Really?" said Ruby, pouting. "I wanted the white knight. Now I have to take the evil one."

"Well, it's your lucky day, sis, because there's two of each color."

Ruby ran over to the pedestals and snatched the second knight before anyone could argue.

"Really?" complained Weiss as she came back. "Shouldn't we both be making this decision?"

"It's fine, Weiss," Blake said quietly. "Yang did the same thing. I don't think the relic you take matters for anything."

Jaune rubbed his muddied head. "I kind of wanted to be a white knight, too," said Jaune, a little irritated. "Pyrrha, mind if I take a rook instead?" She nodded so he went over and picked up the piece.

"Yeee-haww!" shouted a bubbly voice, coming from the trees.

Yang groaned. "Who is it now?"

A massive Ursa broke out of the dense scrub lining the forest, charging into the clearing. Two people clung to the spikes on its back. Yang recognized the ginger crown of one of the riders—it was Nora. Which meant that the other had to be the boy that was always with her. Ren, he was called.

Nora managed to pull out her hammer with one hand, using the other to remain steady on the Ursa. She gleefully swung the hammer, hitting the back of the beast's neck with a crack. Its legs buckled and collapsed. The beast's momentum carried it forward several feet on its stomach, where it slid to a halt just shy of the temple.

"Is it dead?" Yang asked warily, putting out her hand to tell Ruby and the others to stay back.

Just a moment after, the creature began to smoke, its body swiftly dissolving into the air. Ren and Nora slid off and walked towards them. Yang just stared at the smoke. Something was nagging her about it, but it wasn't a question to ask right now. She had to get herself and her friends out of the forest in one piece.

"Grab a chess piece and let's go!" Yang said, not wanting to explain herself again to the new arrivals. She turned back to the group. "Let's take the valley. It's more exposed but we can't get lost, and I think I saw a bridge that can get us back to the cliffs."

The two Ursa riders had gotten their piece. Ren shook his head in embarrassment as Nora stumbled back, precariously balancing a rook on her head.

"Yang," Pyrrha said, slowly and cautiously. "I know we are trying to hurry, but shouldn't we first deal with _that_?" She pointed across the field, where a patch of trees seemed to be shaking.

Before Yang could respond, the trees snapped, collapsing on each other like dominoes, leaving a gap in the otherwise perfect wall of wood. A Death Stalker emerged over the pile of fallen trunks and began to scuttle towards them.

"It…it broke through," said Pyrrha. "I'm sorry. It's my fault for leading it here."

"Let's get it!" cheered Ruby. She rushed headlong at the scorpion, expanding Crescent Rose behind her. Yang sighed. And Ruby said _she_ was the reckless one. Out of preservation for her sister rather than any real strategy, she followed towards the Death Stalker, motioning for the others to follow.

Thirty yards away from the Grimm, Ruby planted the head of her scythe, vaulting off it like a pole and firing it for extra momentum. The launch put her directly between the Death Stalker's head and its tail, where she slashed downward. The blade refused to catch in the beast's heavily armored back, bouncing off instead. In panic she jumped off, ducking as a pincer snapped at her.

Seeing the Death Stalker turn on Ruby, Yang fired both her gauntlets at its face. The shotgun shells burst against it to little effect, and the scorpion pulled both of its armored claws in front of it to block any further attacks.

The Death Stalker seemed much bigger up close. Yang's instincts were to keep fighting until the beast was dead, but her sensible side told her to just evade it. "We have to get to the bridge!" she yelled. "It can't follow us there."

Yang broke into a run, heading to the far side of the valley. Ruby had managed to extricate herself, and the others were following, too. The Death Stalker seemed confused at having so many people around it, the way a shark is confused by a school of fish. Its tail lashed at Ren, who avoided it easily, then retaliated by shooting a few rounds into its exposed stinger. The tail recoiled, evidently a weak spot in the Grimm's defenses.

The valley sloped upward at its end, leading to a steep drop of at least a hundred feet. On the far side of the chasm was the cliff where they had begun, albeit at a slightly different spot. Spanning the gap was a rough yet meticulously crafted stone bridge, at least a hundred yards long and wide enough for a car to pass—but hopefully not wide enough for an enormous scorpion.

Another concern was that the Nevermore was still following them. While it hadn't tried to bite them or launched any more feathers, the way it circled overhead like a vulture was unnerving and Yang knew it would jump on them the instant it saw an opportunity. Unlike the Death Stalker, it wouldn't be deterred by the bridge.

While the bridge was well-maintained, the stone structures surrounding it were not. A row of destroyed houses sat along the edge of the cliff, with their foundations still standing. Yang dove behind one of them. "Get down!" she yelled to the others. They followed her lead and crouched behind the walls.

"That thing's not going to let us pass the bridge," said Jaune, pointing at the Nevermore. "It'll grab us one by one and eat us."

Yang snorted at the ridiculousness of that image. "Nah," she said. "We're between what's basically a rock and a hard place right now. If we go back we'll have to find a completely different way. There might not be one at all."

"Nora, can you distract it?" asked Ren. "Hold its attention so we can get to the bridge safely."

Nora raised an eyebrow. "Which one, the bird or the creepy crawly?"

"Both, if you can," he said. "You're the best person to do it."

The compliment seemed to energize Nora. She dashed out of hiding with her hammer, Magnhild, in its launcher form. The Nevermore beat her to the punch, launching another volley of feathers. Nora tucked and rolled, emerging unscathed. Her retaliation was swift, firing a bulky shell trailing pink smoke. It blew up on impact in a flash of pink hearts that caused the bird to falter. Ren jumped up from his hiding place, heading for the bridge. The others followed his lead.

"Go, go, go!" Pyrrha yelled, hefting Miló in its rifle form. "Nora, look out!"

The Death Stalker had caught up with them. It was only thirty yards from Nora and moving fast. Already it had picked its way through the ruins, despite the narrow gaps between the buildings. It shouldn't have surprised Pyrrha after how it had fared in the tiny cave.

No longer perched on the bridge, the Nevermore circled overhead as Nora aimed her launcher at it again, oblivious to the scorpion behind her. Ren yanked her away just in time. Blake had strung her shroud between two stone pillars, but the Death Stalker broke through with ease, snapping at Blake but only managing to snag a shadowy clone.

They had all made it to the bridge by now, with Ruby in the lead. Her cape had come untucked and was trailing behind her. The others followed her, with Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren bringing up the rear. Then everything went dark.

Shadows fell over the bridge as the Nevermore's massive wingspan blocked out the sun. Its body was outlined against the light like some dark, vengeful angel. With a whooshing sound that was now familiar to them, it fired another volley of feathers. Then it tucked its head and flew straight at the bridge.

Yang realized what it was trying to do. "Get out of the way!" she yelled to Ruby, who was struggling with her cape, which had been pinned to the stone by a feather. "Take it off, Ruby!"

Ruby shook her head stubbornly, continuing to yank on the feather. After several seconds of futility, she began to undo the clasps that held it to her shirt, but it was too late. With a direct collision, the Nevermore stove in the side of the bridge. The surrounding stones, unsupported, began to collapse.

A silent scream escaped her lips as the stone she was pinned to began to topple into the abyss. Despite the extreme circumstances she was facing, and the energy coursing through her, her semblance refused to go. It was finicky that way.

The stone fell, and Ruby was falling now. Falling and falling and falling and—

 _Why did everything feel...cold?_ Ruby groaned and sat up, pulling her cloak in front of her to inspect it. A long tear ran down the middle where the feather had caught it and eventually torn through. For a moment, she was too distraught to take in her surroundings.

"Ruby! Get up! Come on!" someone shouted.

Ruby looked up and saw Weiss standing on the edge of the broken bridge above her. The arm holding her sword, Myrtenaster, was rigid and straight, and a pale vein stood out on her face. A blue snowflake glyph hovered on the bottom of the bridge.

All around Ruby was ice. It spilled from the bottom of the bridge and snaked downward, forming a crude, lumpy hand that kept her from falling. Weiss had saved her. Remembering the amount of energy it took for her partner to maintain the glyph, she scrambled up to the bridge as quick as she could.

"Thanks, Weiss," she said, thoroughly embarrassed. "I really mean it. I should have just let it go."

Weiss nodded, but the look on her face was still reproachful. "If you hadn't run ahead of the group," she said, "I wouldn't have needed to save you. There's no need to be reckless."

Ruby couldn't help but defend herself a little. "Well, maybe if you hadn't told me over and over how terrible I am, I wouldn't have needed to show off."

"You, of all people, needing to show off?" Weiss said, rolling her eyes. "You're fine." She turned and ran toward Blake and Yang, who were waiting under a stone arch farther down the bridge.

Ruby was about to join her when she remembered the others. She looked back across the gap. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren crouched on a narrow stub of the bridge sticking out over the canyon. The Death Stalker stood right up against the edge, preventing them from escaping back to the valley, but unwilling to chase them onto the unstable, narrow platform. The jump to the rest of the bridge was forty feet at least—not a jump any of them could make barring a semblance she didn't know about.

"Come with us, Ruby!" Yang yelled. "There's nothing we can do about Jaune and the others right now. We'll come back for them later."

Having their group split, trapped on opposite sides of a chasm, and facing different enemies made her nervous, but Ruby nodded and ran after her sister.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" asked Jaune in disbelief. Never before had he contemplated jumping off a cliff, but when the alternative was trying to sneak past a pincer larger than his entire body, it seemed good to consider his options.

"We wait," Ren said, voice calm and collected. "It hasn't moved onto the platform and it's not foolish enough to try. It'll get bored and move on eventually."

Pyrrha, on the other hand, seemed more concerned. "No luck there," she said. "It's easy to forget Grimm aren't animals. They don't get bored or hungry. If they don't eat for a few months they start to shrink, but that's not really relevent."

Ren was adamant. "I say we wait anyway. The others—they'll send help for us once they reach the cliffs. Even if they don't, we'll be rescued eventually."

Nora waved her hammer at the Death Stalker. The beast was nearly still, its only movement an occasional adjustment of its legs. "You mean just sit here all day? Come. On," she said, moping.

The supposedly patient Death Stalker seemed to be growing restless. It began to smack its claws against the edge of their sanctuary, each impact shaving off little slivers of stone. After a few strikes, the platform started to sag. Then it tipped toward the cliff.

"We gotta move!" said Jaune. He scrambled forward, vaguely aware of the others following him. "Take it down, now."

A claw swung straight at him. Jaune's mind told him to move, to jump or duck, but his legs would have nothing to do with it. They turned to jelly as the pincers closed in on his midsection. He closed his eyes and waited, only opening them at the sound of a harsh, metallic clang.

Pyrrha was crouching with her shield braced, standing over him. He realized guiltily that she had deflected the claw away from him.

"Take care of yourself, Jaune," she said, sounding more relieved than angry.

"Stay right there, Pyrrha," said Nora from somewhere behind him. "Don't move your shield."

Pyrrha looked back, confused. Her eyes widened as Nora leaped. She grunted from the heavy impact against her shield. Jaune and Ren looked up, stupefied, as Nora hurtled through the sky. Magnhild gave her enough leverage to spin several times in succession, before burying its face in the Death Stalker's… face.

Ren's lethargic demeanor was gone immediately. He drew Stormflower and fired it at a run, bullets ineffectually bouncing off the Death Stalker's armored plates. Nora had recovered by now, and the two of them switched places, with Ren running straight at it while she ran back toward Jaune and Pyrrha.

Ren's jump could not have been more different than Nora's. He jumped low, clearing the Grimm's head and catching the top of its tail. The set of razor-sharp blades on the base of each of his guns sunk into the tendon, right below the stinger.

It was here that Stormflower's bullets seemed to have a greater effect. The scorpion thrashed as Ren blasted its unarmored stinger. Meanwhile, Nora had switched back to her grenade launcher. She loaded three shells and fired them in quick succession. While they seemed to make an impact on the Grimm, they had the unfortunate side effect of damaging the platform further.

"Pyrrha, get the stinger!" Jaune yelled as he ran forward. "It's already weak."

"Done," was her reply.

Pyrrha backed up as far as she dared before reversing course and running straight at the Death Stalker with Miló leveled at it like a jousting lance. Still blinded from Nora's grenades, it didn't react as Pyrrha buried the spear tip in one of its eight red eyes. Then she vaulted over the spear, landing on the creature's back.

Ren still clung to the tail, the scorpion having given up on shaking him loose. Pyrrha aimed carefully, not wanting to hit him. The edge of Akoúo̱ wasn't sharp, but the sinews and muscles that held the stinger in place had already been weakened.

It was frustrating to have her target so close, but so far away. A solid frisbee throw would have sufficed to sever the stinger, but the angle was awkward. She had to throw straight up, keeping the edge perfectly steady, cutting as close as possible without hurting Ren. After a second or two of failing to work out the angles, Pyrrha gave up and flung the shield as straight as she could.

Her aim was true; the shield cleanly separated the two halves. Ren was unharmed, and she watched as the boy freed one arm, then the other. Enraged, the Death Stalker blundered onto the collapsing stub of the bridge. Pyrrha retrieved her spear and rolled behind it as it passed, putting her back on firm ground, where Ren and Nora were already waiting.

That left Jaune, alone facing the ornery scorpion.

"Oh, come on guys," he whined. "Really?"

Fortunately, the Grimm seemed too disoriented to pay him any attention. Jaune slid through the gap under its claw unscathed and ran to join the others.

How the tables had turned. Now it was the Death Stalker who stood on the platform while Nora whaled away at it with Magnhild. The last bits of foundation gave way, uprooting the platform as its great weight carried it over the edge.

"Waa-hoo!" Nora exclaimed, hugging Ren, who was too tired to resist. "We did it! We did it! We did it!"

Jaune looked over the edge warily, trying to make out the fallen monster in the fog below the cliff. "Is it dead?" he asked.

Pyrrha hesitated. "Probably not," she admitted. "They have exoskeletons, so the fall likely didn't hurt it. But it won't be bothering us again today."

"Maybe _it_ won't," Jaune said, his eyes fixed on the sky, "But this fight isn't over yet."

* * *

Yang was climbing one of the overhanging stone arches when her sister arrived. She paused and looked down.

"Ruby," she said. "Cover me! I'm gonna hit it from up top."

Ruby crouched on one knee by the side of the bridge and leaned Crescent Rose against the ground. She snapped an electric cartridge into place, aware she would only get five shots out of it. Each one had to count.

Next to the main bridge, about thirty feet up, was a second bridge. It was full of holes, dilapidated even compared to the one they were on. It seemed a miracle that it was still standing. Blake and Weiss were already standing on it, using the height to get a better view of the Nevermore above them. Yang was on her way to join them.

As before, it was unclear whether the gigantic raven was losing interest or simply waiting for the right opportunity. It hadn't smashed the bridge again or thrown any more feathers at them. Maybe it knew they were expecting those tricks, and had something new up its sleeve. Wing. Whatever.

The optical sight on Ruby's scythe wasn't fancy, but it didn't need to be. At the end of the day, a sight was just that. No matter how good it was, it didn't take the shot for you. This shot shouldn't have been difficult. The Nevermore was huge and its body stood in stark contrast to the bright sky. Only a nagging itch that they were missing something distracted her.

"Where is it, Yang?" Ruby asked. After going so such great efforts to isolate and injure them, it seemed impossible that their foe had _given up_. Yet it had ceased its circling several minutes earlier and now it was lost in the fog below them. Ruby scanned the seething, swirling mist, looking for anything that stood out. A flash of feathers, a sudden dispersion of air as a wing flapped below it, even a suspicious-looking shadow. There was nothing.

Then, like a monstrous avian tornado, the Nevermore burst from the bottom of the bridge, gouging out chunks of stone and sending them flying. Ruby was unharmed, being at least thirty feet away, but the suddenness of it was still startling.

Blake was the quickest to react, jumping from her place on the upper bridge and grabbing the scruff of the Nevermore's neck, each hand taking up fistfuls of feathers. Lacking the ability to brush her off, the raven began to shake and gyrate through the air. Blak advanced up the back of its neck, slowly gaining ground before thrusting at its eye with her katana.

Half-blinded, the Nevermore rammed into the cliff wall, sending a shower of loose rock tumbling down over it. Ruby jumped up in alarm. Weiss, who had moments earlier made her way down to the main bridge, saw her opportunity.

Weiss began to run, swift as her heels allowed, toward the cliff. Then she stopped and slid while Myrtenaster, loaded with ice dust, laid down a frozen trail in her path. The momentum allowed for an easy jump that brought her level with the still-recovering Nevermore. Her rapier leapt out like a serpent, frost spreading from the tip and gathering around the legs and tail of the Grimm. For a moment she feared it wasn't enough, but the ice quickly thickened, encasing its entire lower body in a shimmering lattice.

"Get it, Ruby!" called out Yang, seeing what Weiss had done, but her sister wasn't listening.

Ruby wasn't sure what had happened. As soon as the Nevermore struck the cliff something clicked inside of her, and she was drawn to the cliff in a way that made the journey fuzzy and indistinct. The next thing she knew, she was reforming atop the ice, a hand's breadth away from the bird's beak. Her semblance must have gone off inadvertently. Crescent Rose knew what to do, and so did Ruby. Its gun barrel unfolded twice, forming the familiar shape of a scythe. One slash was all it took to separate the sleek, glossy head from its body. Black-grey smoke billowed from the stump in a macabre pyre.

Weiss waited for her partner to relax before she allowed her mind to unfocus, the glass melting as she did. Ruby hopped to a crude ledge set partway down the cliff. The fallen body of their foe drifted down slowly, graceful even in death, partially dissolving as it fell.

Yang gave a little whistle, looking over at Blake. "That was a thing," she said in disbelief. All around the valley, others were thinking the same thing.

* * *

Unending applause. Shouts, cheers, and whistles from students as they passed. Slaps on the back and congratulatory remarks. Ruby didn't know whether their initiation had truly been something extraordinary, or if this kind of reaction was par for the course.

No sooner had she and her friends made it back to the cliffs, they were ushered to a bathroom and given only twenty minutes to wash up before being sent up on stage in the auditorium with the other initiates. It was only now that she realized they had been the last students to finish, although by what it seemed so far doing so wasn't a stigma.

Taking the microphone at the center of the semicircular stage was a familiar face: Ozpin. He smiled at the cheering students, but whether the source of his pleasure was their behavior or the success of the initiation was unknown.

"Thank you, thank you," he said, signalling for the crowd to quiet themselves. "Our newest students appreciate, I'm sure, your compliments. They will have plenty of time to receive them later. But now is the time for me to announce the last set of teams."

On the screen behind Ozpin flashed four portrait-shaped rectangles, which a second later were filled in with the faces of four scowling boys, two with bleached hair.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark," he said. "The four of you retrieved the two black bishops. Your teachers and I had a little chat and ultimately decided that you will be Team 'CRDL,' led by Cardin Winchester. Congratulations, young men, you have done very well."

Orange-haired Cardin walked over to shake the headmaster's hand, with the rest of his team a pace behind. They walked off the stage and took their place in the empty front row. After a few more moments of clapping Ozpin snapped his fingers, and the picture behind him changed again.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren," he said, gesturing to the screen, "Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. You four chose for yourselves the set of white rooks. We have decided to call you Team 'JNPR,' led by… Jaune Arc. Congratulations to all."

The look on Jaune's face reflected his surprise. He shook the headmaster's hand and could swear the man winked at him. Pyrrha gave him a broad smile as they took their seats next to Team CRDL. On their other side, Nora was still giggling about their new team while Ren nodded along.

"Now," said Ozpin, drawing everyone's attention back. "The final team."

Ruby's heart beat a little, although there were no surprises. Herself, Yang, Weiss, and Blake were the only ones left standing.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao-Long," Ozpin said, gesturing to final set of portraits behind him. "The four of you retrieved none other than the white knight pieces. You will be known as Team 'RWBY', led by Ruby Rose. Congratulations."

Weiss's eyes were blank. They flickered between Ruby and the man at the microphone, his words registering but not making sense. How had her partner, the youngest and least responsible, become the leader of their team? Was it only because Ruby had killed the Nevermore? Even though _she_ had summoned the ice that made the killing blow possible?

"The matter of teams is sorted," said Ozpin, his tone indicating finality. "But the surprises of this year have just begun. Continued training, new experiences, and the Vytal Festival come Spring. I think we can all agree that this year will be one to remember."

* * *

Roman pored over the map one last time, using two fingers to insert a pushpin on a line between two streets.

"No, no, not there," he muttered, pulling it back out.

There was a harsh _clack_ as a rolling cart struck the bump at the edge of the door. He rolled his eyes.

"What is it?" he asked the henchman that had just walked in. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"

The grunt didn't respond, only pointing at the suitcase on top of the cart. With the excitement of a kid opening birthday presents and the precision of an experienced thief, Roman clicked the latches open, revealing rows of dust crystals inside. He stroked his chin.

"Not bad, not bad," Roman said, "Oh wait, I'm forgetting something, aren't I?"

He pulled a small stack of assorted lien from his pocket and placed it on top of the cart, closing the suitcase and taking it for himself. "Pleasure doing business with you," he said.

Suitcase in hand, Roman turned back to the map, lighting a cigar as he did. He heard the bump of the cart exiting the room. Putting the lighter down, he picked up a red marker and drew a crude circle on the map, right at the edge of the water.

"We're going to need more men," he hissed.

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the long chapter. I struggled to strike a balance between thoroughness and repetition, between slow and fast paced. I don't love the pacing, by the way. 2nd half of this chapter is something I'll want to do another pass on someday, but for now I've got other priorities.**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Badge and the Burden

**If consistency is the badge of a good writer, then I'm the world's shittiest. Sorry for the excuses, and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Badge and the Burden

The sun had risen almost an hour earlier, and light was at last beginning to worm its way under the thick velvet curtains of the dorm room. It struck Weiss's face first, prompting her to cover her eyes and roll over. There was no chance she would fall back asleep, but in this state of partial lucidity she could relax, gather her thoughts, and wake up on her own terms.

Ruby had other ideas. Her whistle blast was loud enough to leave Blake and Yang clutching their ears, but to Weiss, it was downright painful. Her eyes snapped open in an instant and she sat up.

"Ruby!" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

Ruby looked more confused than her partner did. She let the whistle drop around her neck. "Waking you guys up, obviously."

Weiss looked over at the clock that sat on the table next to her. Her body relaxed, all the tension leaving it as she fell back on her pillow once again.

"It's 8 o'clock, Ruby," she said. "I'm still resting." Blake and Yang let out what sounded like affirmative grunts. A short period of blissful silence followed.

"Good morning, Team RWBY!" Ruby yelled, punctuating the statement with repeated blasts of her whistle.

The remainder of the team dragged themselves unwillingly from their beds, pulling on the burgundy uniforms they had been given the day before. Weiss remained in her pajamas.

"Let's get started then!" said Ruby, realizing Weiss wasn't joining them. She paused, scratching her head. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I haven't even unpacked yet. Soo...I guess we can do that first."

"O.K.," said Blake, turning and walking to her bag. Yang followed her with a shrug.

Ruby sat down on her partner's bed. "Are you going to join us, Weiss? It's your best chance to unpack."

Weiss watched Blake and Yang as they rifled through their enormous duffel bags, then looked to her own, even larger stack of suitcases by the closet. "No," she said, casting her eyes down.

Ruby hopped up. "Well, try and get it done before class. Better now than later."

Weiss answered with a stiff nod, continuing to look at her bags.

"Ruby?" asked Yang from across the room. "Can you hold up this poster for me?"

The next half hour passed in a flash. Dressers were filled, mostly with school uniforms, but also with pajamas and piles of casual clothes for after class or visiting the city. Posters of local bands, teams, and famous huntsmen and huntresses were plastered to every wall. Beds were shoved aside to make room for stacks of books and a folding table. As Team RWBY's bags emptied, the dorm's original furniture was scrunched closer and closer together.

Weiss finally gave in when the ever-expanding piles of clothes and magazines began to besiege her corner of the room. She quickly dressed and spread her own bags out. One of the largest suitcases unfolded like an accordion.

Ruby snickered. "Really? _Six_ dresses?"

Weiss shot her a scornful look, shamefully remembering she had two more in a different bag, then went back to examining the collar of a white jacket. "I don't plan on wearing all of them," she said. "I just like the choices."

"But two of them are the same!" Ruby argued, mouth agape. "Look! The blue ones."

"No they're not," she snapped back, hastily gathering up the dresses. "One is longer, and the fit is totally different—not that you'd understand that kind of thing anyway."

"Hey...guys?" said Yang from the center of the room. "We've got a bigger problem than how many dresses someone brought."

* * *

"Ren," hissed Jaune through the door. "Ren! Are you almost done? We have to go to class soon."

"Hm-dhun-dhum," came the faint voice through the bathroom door.

Jaune turned to Pyrrha and Nora, who were standing in line behind him, toothbrushes in hand. "Does he normally take this long?"

Nora shrugged. "Usually. Ren's a morning person, but that doesn't mean he's fast."

"Perhaps," Pyrrha added, "our sanitary needs could be met...elsewhere."

Jaune gave her a funny look. "You mean we should find another bathroom?" he said, continuing after Pyrrha nodded. "I didn't see any in the food court or the main hall. I even asked an older student, and he just told me to use the one in my dorm."

"So this is it?" Nora complained. She walked up and gave the door a poke. "Come on."

"Actually, Nora," Pyrrha said with a smile, "I think Ruby and her team have the room right across the hall. If we asked nicely to use theirs, I'm sure they would let us.

"Oh, please," cut in Jaune. "Four girls? You really think that bathroom's going to be open?"

Silence. Pyrrha shot him a condescending look, and the corner of Nora's mouth curled in irritation. Jaune gulped.

"Sorry about that," he said, hanging his head. "I was joking. Well, mostly."

Pyrrha recovered a little too quickly. "It's fine, it's fine," she insisted. "You weren't trying to be rude."

The three of them crossed the hall, stopping in front of the dorm directly across from their own. From outside the door they could hear shouting muffled by the sound of loud music. Jaune raised his hand to knock, then paused, imagining the response he might get.

"You guys knock," Jaune said. "I'm gonna grab something." He scurried back to their own dorm.

Nora shrugged and knocked, the sound barely audible over the music. No response. The door remained where it was, slightly ajar.

"It's open," Pyrrha realized, nudging it a few inches farther as she did. She poked her head inside the door. "Hello?"

"Hello!" said a familiar voice, slightly out of breath. "We're a little busy here! Come on in!"

Nora needed no further invitation. She swung the door wide. Jaune, who was just returning, froze when he saw the strange apparatus assembled within Team RWBY's dorm. Ropes had been attached to every secure surface—and some less secure ones, like lamps, doorknobs, and suitcases. Suspended from the elaborate system were two of the room's four beds, hanging three or four feet in the air. It was a strange sight to see Yang squatting under a bed with her arms bent, evidently supporting most of its weight, while the rest of her team heaved on a rope enthusiastically. Well, at least Ruby did. Blake pulled disinterestedly while Weiss sat in the corner, sifting through a bag.

Pyrrha looked as surprised as Jaune did. "What's happening here?" she asked as she walked through the door.

"Don't ask me," said Weiss, before her teammates could speak. "We ran out of space on the floor, so instead of cleaning up, our _leader_ thought we should try hanging the beds from the ceiling!"

"Hey!" snapped Ruby, turning to her partner. "Don't write it off before we're even done. It would work a lot better if you were helping."

"Less talking, more lifting," Yang wheezed. Her face was red as she adjusted her grip on the bed. The back-and-forth between her sister and Weiss was going nowhere, and she wanted no part in it.

"We're on it," said Pyrrha, grabbing the edge of the bed. "Nora, you grab the other side."

"Reinforcements have arrived!" cheered Ruby. "Take that, Weiss!"

Weiss scowled at them from the corner. "Sooner or later," she said, "one of you guys is going to get a bed dropped on top of you—and don't say I didn't warn you!"

With Pyrrha and Nora's help, the bed was quickly lifted into place. Ruby tied the corner of her rope to the leg of another bed and gave it a tug. Evidently satisfied with the arrangement, she dropped the end of the rope and began to look through some of the scattered clothes.

"Sorry about that," said Yang, turning to Pyrrha while picking splinters out of her hands. "Do you guys need something?"

Jaune, who had been idling by the door, looked embarrassed. "We just wanted to use your bathroom," he said. "Ren's...taking his time."

"Well, in that case, go ahead." Yang chuckled a little. "But you might want to watch your step. It looks like someone shipped a beauty store here and dumped it all over the floor. You can thank Weiss for that."

Weiss snorted. "In a month or two, you'll all be _begging_ to use what I brought. We'll see who's laughing then."

Blake sighed. "Between the bed lifting and arguing, you're out of time. It's 8:55. I'm leaving for class."

Ruby froze. "8:55?" she said. "Uh oh." Then she was gone, the clothes she had just picked up dropping to the floor as a flash of crimson sped toward the door, scooping up an empty Beacon Academy backpack along the way. Jaune felt a rush of air as she passed.

"For once," said Weiss, glowering, "our leader has the right idea." She stomped out of the room, heels heedlessly crushing clothes and apparel underfoot as she did.

"Shit," Jaune mumbled, looking down at his pajamas. He raised his voice to carry across the hall. "Ren, you'd better be done by now or I'm throwing you out myself!" He bolted for the door and rushed across the hall toward their own dorm.

"Did he forget about the one here?" Pyrrha asked.

For once, Nora had no answer. The two of them exchanged glances and, after a moment, went to brush their teeth. Blake and Yang remained in the room. With only two people around, the magnitude of the clutter seemed much more obvious. The floor looked less like a floor and more like a year's worth of lost-and-found sprinkled across every square inch of the carpet.

"You know," Yang said, scratching her head, "I'm a messy person, but even I'll admit we need to do something about this."

"I agree," said Blake, pulling on her own backpack, "but there's nothing we can do about it for now."

"Well then, they put our whole team together for most of our classes. First one is...Grimm Studies." That was definitely a class Yang was excited for.

* * *

"Greetings, my fine, fine students," said Port, strolling across the front of the classroom to the center, in front of the whiteboard. "Welcome to your first year of Grimm studies."

Despite Port's grey-white hair and seemingly ungainly bulk, he spoke and moved with a youthful energy missing from plenty of people half his size and age. A comically bushy mustache completely covered his mouth, making him difficult to read. Even as he went through the mundane process of taking attendance, his voice never lost its pompous, dramatic tone.

"—Yang Xiao-Long?"

"Here."

"Miss Xiao-Long," he said, "what in Remnant happened to the rest of your team?"

"They're here _now_ ," she explained. "We all got here at the same time. You just called their names first."

"Don't argue with me, Miss Xiao Long," he snapped, but the retort seemed more amused than angry. "I have to call the names in some order, don't I? But not to worry. Today's your first day of classes, after all."

Port turned to look at the class. "As I was saying, you are beginning your first of two mandatory years of Grimm studies—although most students enjoy it so much that they take four. Isn't that right, Oobleck?"

"Hmm?" came a voice from a door at the side of the classroom. "What's that, Peter?"

"I said," replied Port, "that my class is so popular that most of my students stay for the full four years."

The door the voice had come from opened and a green-haired, bespectacled man poked his head out. He spoke quickly, stringing words and sentences together in a bewildering fashion. "Ahh, yes, Professor," he said. "I can see how students gravitate to your class. Its action and tactics-based nature makes it an appealing choice for students that have grown tired of the lecturing and reading present in many other classes. Not, of course, that you aren't fond of lecturing yourself. I, however, teach my classes at a fast and consistent pace which serves both to keep students engaged and to cover the broad scope of my topic in a timely manner. It is, I believe, the optimal style for teaching history."

The edges of Port's mustache drooped in what might have been a frown. "Whatever you say, Barty."

Oobleck's eyes gleamed under his glasses in victory. He closed the door and returned to his own class.

Port's mustache popped back to normal as the door closed. Unfazed by the exchange and the giggles coming from students, he continued. "Now, where were we? Ah, of course. We were just beginning our first lesson. I'm sure you're all itching to get to the hands-on activities, but before we can do that, we must learn. And what better way to learn than with a quick story from my life?"

Rows of students groaned in unison. While they had never listened to one of Port's anecdotes before, the rumors they had heard in the hallways had prepared them for a painful experience. Former students had recounted hour-long ramblings about the most obscure childhood events, with only the thinnest of connections to what they were actually learning. Any hopes of avoiding such drudgery were quickly vanquished.

"Our story begins where all true stories begin. At home. The home of a brave and handsome young man. Me."

The students groaned. Port ignored them and kept going. "Statistically, most of you lived in a city, but in my time, living in the country was considerably more common. My entire family lived in the same small village, and were as content as any family could be.

"But," he said, letting a dark edge creep into his voice, "our lives were not peaceful. You see, our village lacked any trained huntsmen or huntresses. Don't get me wrong, every so often one would pass through, to great fanfare, but for most of our lives we were unprotected.

"'Peter,' my grandfather told me, 'if I've learned one thing living in this village, it's that you can't rely on others to protect you. You have to protect yourself. It's long overdue that you begin training, so you can join the watch with the other adults.'

"Being the young upstart that I was, I wanted nothing more than to show my grandfather I wasn't as wet behind the ears as I looked. This led me to the rather rash decision of skipping my training entirely. I snuck my father's sword out of his room and through our house, before taking off into the woods with nothing but the clothes on my back."

He paused, and a few of the students erupted into mock applause. The rest had their heads resting in their hands or were staring at the ceiling with glazed eyes.

Port sighed. "We were just pausing for discussion. My story is just beginning! Now, who can tell me what my past self did correctly...and incorrectly?"

Several hands shot up and were called on by the Professor. Students were eager to ridicule Port's childish actions, but none were able to say what their teacher _had_ done right—if anything. Weiss, seated in the first row, listened to her classmates' responses with disappointment. Most were treating the activity as a joke, given how ridiculous the story had been in the first place.

Weiss, however, saw it as a chance to impress her new teacher. She stuck her hand up and began speaking as soon as he pointed to her. "I was just thinking, Professor..." she said, pausing as he nodded to acknowledge her, "that while your actions were not the best thought out, they still demonstrated the proper virtues that a good huntsmen or huntresses should have."

"Hmm...which ones?"

"Well," she continued, throwing a sharp glance at Ruby, who was doodling in the seat next to her, "when you rushed into the woods to help without being asked to, you were showing initiative. And by facing those dangers alone, you were demonstrating bravery—even if it wasn't the smartest decision."

"Very good, Miss Schnee, very good." Port chuckled as he once again addressed the class. "My actions formed the foundation of what each and every one of you must have to succeed: bravery, decisiveness, and selflessness. Although...combat ability and a dash of of common sense can't hurt. The former can be taught, and the latter you hopefully have already."

He turned back to Weiss. "Miss Schnee," he asked, "do you believe you possess the things I just mentioned? The things every true huntress must have?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ruby, who was still drawing in her notebook with one hand while the other was stuck up her nostril. She turned to Weiss and snickered. A vein pulsed in Weiss's head. "I do, sir!" she half-shouted, abandoning her composure. Dozing students snapped to attention suddenly at the noise. Realizing they hadn't been called on, their spines and eyelids drooped as they returned to sleep.

Port's eyebrows raised a little. "Good. Now, are you ready to prove it?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Well child, even as a teacher, I have faced thousands of Grimm in my life, but none proved such a formidable foe as the Boarbatusk that first greeted me in the woods surrounding my town."

"And? What does that mean?"

"If I, an untrained boy of fourteen, could defeat a fully-grown Boarbatusk on my own, then there is no doubt a future huntress such as yourself can—in front of the class."

Weiss tried to not look flustered as realization sunk into her. "Now?" she squeaked.

He nodded. "No time like the present! Assuming you're prepared and in fighting shape?"

She searched for an excuse, but then remembered her teammates. Anything she made up they could just refute. Even if they didn't, she would never be able to look them in the eye afterward. Very slowly, she pushed out her chair and tugged Myrtenaster from her belt. "I'm ready."

* * *

The students whispered amongst themselves as their teacher brandished a double-bladed axe over a wood plank holding the steel crate closed. The crate trembled slightly as the creature held captive slammed against the sides. Muffled grunts and snuffling sounds could be heard from within.

Grimm in captivity were exceedingly rare. On top of being a bad omen to have around, capturing them was a difficult and dangerous affair. Smaller ones, like this Boarbatusk, were sometimes brought in for training, weapons testing, or fruitless scientific research, but anything larger than an Ursa was simply too strong, too dangerous. Junior Academies almost never used real monsters for training, so for some of the students who had gotten lucky during initiation, it was their first time seeing a hostile Grimm in person.

Ruby on the other hand, was looking at Weiss. She too was excited to see the Grimm emerge, but was more interested in how her partner would deal with it. "Go Weiss!" she cheered. "You can do it!"

Weiss's only response was a flicker of irritation running across her otherwise calm veneer. She held Myrtenaster in front of her, arm straight and tense to conceal any shaking, eyes fixed on the shuddering crate.

"And...begin," Port declared, bringing his axe down on the wooden bar. The wood splintered and a second later was smashed apart by the swiftly opening door of the crate. The Boarbatusk, free from confinement, shook its head as it got its bearings.

Black, glossy, and sporting a pair of long, serrated tusks, the creature was just large enough to be threatening. It carried itself low above the ground on four stubby but powerful legs. Bony white patches stuck out through its fur, and its four beady red eyes squinted in the light. Slowly, its eyes came to focus and settled on the girl standing on the floor across from it.

With a surprisingly sudden movement, it began to charge toward her. Even with its short strides, within a second it was only a sword's length from Weiss. Rather than strike, she somersaulted sideways, expertly keeping her balance even as the narrow bottoms of her heels slid against the floor. The Boarbatusk couldn't turn quickly enough. It continued to lurch forward, finally digging in its hooves and skidding to a stop a few feet shy of the wall. A few students gasped.

Weiss took advantage of the opening to take a free stab at its backside, but her blade clashed against one of the creature's bony plates. As she recoiled, the Boarbatusk curled its head and hind legs into its stomach, forming a ball. The Grimm began to turn and roll toward her with an agility that it had lacked while supported by its legs.

Caught off guard by the tactic, Weiss leapt into the air, summoning a glyph to support herself as the spinning boar rolled underneath her. Fortunately, the beast's ability to stop seemed even poorer than it had been while it was running. In vain it tried to stop as it drew closer to the sturdy panel separating the seats from the staging area at the front of the classroom. The impact popped the creature out of its curled-up state, leaving it stranded on its back a few seconds before it managed to roll over.

Ruby couldn't help but notice the black, shiny skin on the Grimm's belly. "Weiss," she called out, "go for its belly! There's no armor underneath."

"Don't distract me, Ruby," she shouted back.

The Boarbatusk got to its feet and made another pass. Weiss sidestepped the charge before driving her sword sideways. It lodged between the beast's tusks, dragging her along with it. She planted her feet, using the full strength of her arms and shoulders to throw the creature to the floor. The sudden movement dislodged her sword, which rolled across the room before clattering against the wall.

"Oh-oh!" chimed in Port. "Now things are getting interesting. What will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss's answer to that was simple: get her weapon. With the beast still down, she scrambled across the room, grabbing Myrtenaster with stiff fingers. The Grimm charged one final time, but Weiss was ready. She summoned a glyph, facing forward at ground level in front of her. The boar slammed into it mindlessly, and the impact caused the glyph to shudder, blue energy leaking from its edges, but it held. Weiss was unscathed.

The same couldn't be said for the Boarbatusk, who lay on the floor, stunned. A quick stab to the creature's belly finished it for good. Weiss withdrew her blade and immediately strutted off the stage.

Bravo! Bravo," said Port as the Grimm's body began to smoke and boil. "We are indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training. Now, everyone return to your regular seats. Let's review tonight's reading before you go."

* * *

"Weiss!" called Ruby as she rushed down the hall. "Weissss!" She turned the corner and snatched her partner by the arm. "Why did you run off like that?"

Weiss recoiled as if a snake had bitten her. "What do you want, Ruby?"

"Well, you did great during the fight, but afterward you looked really upset. And after class you ran off without saying anything. What happened?"

"You happened," she snarled.

Ruby couldn't help her eyes from going slightly watery. Her efforts to check in with her teammate had only made things worse. "What did I do?"

"That's just it! You've done nothing to deserve your position. Every decision you've made has been immature and childish. I'm older and more experienced; I should have been our leader."

"But I didn't ask to be a leader! Ozpin chose me."

"Then he chose wrong."

"Weiss!" Ruby cried as her partner began to walk away. "What happened to 'making our team the best'? Yesterday, that's what you said you wanted to do."

"A lot has changed since yesterday. I have lost whatever shred of confidence I had in your abilities. I _still_ want my team to be the best, I've just accepted the fact that it will be impossible with you at the helm."

A voice spoke up from behind Ruby as soon as Weiss was out of view. "Hmm. That didn't turn out too well, did it?"

Ruby looked around—and up. Tiny, dark-lensed glasses, grey hair, a cane. It was Ozpin. "Oh," she mumbled. "Did you hear all of that?"

He shook his head. "Only caught the tail-end."

Ruby realized he was waiting for her to speak, so she did. "Is Weiss right? Am I a bad leader? Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin smiled, a change from his ordinarily blank visage. He shifted his weight. "That remains to be seen. New team leaders often fail to realize that keeping teammates in good standing with each other is just as important as leading them into battle. Far more important, actually. But you realize, and you care. That bodes well."

Ruby managed to nod along. "But…was it a mistake?"

I've made more mistakes than anyone at this school," said Ozpin. "More than anyone in Remnant, most likely. But at this time, I would not consider your appointment to be one of them."

He began to walk away, but then stopped and turned before continuing. "It's only your second day. Focus on honing your skills, rather than judging them, and don't worry if others judge them for you. Take it as a compliment that they care at all.

"As a leader, you are accountable for the actions and inactions of those that you are leading. It's not just a title you carry with you in the field, but a badge of responsibility that you wear constantly. Work with your team, befriend them, and make compromises. Only by doing that can you prevent that badge from becoming a burden. Good luck."

* * *

Peter Port stood on the balcony, allowing the midmorning sun to shine on his weathered face. A light breeze tickled his mustache. It was the click of heels on stone that prompted him to turn away from his magnificent view of the countryside.

"Professor?" said Weiss. "Uhm…"

"Ah, Miss Schnee!" said Port, in the same booming voice he used to address a room full of students. "To what do I owe this fine pleasure?"

"I…enjoyed your class. It was very informative, and I was impressed you had live Grimm sitting around for us to fight."

"And I was impressed by the ease with which you dealt with it. But if my intuition is correct, that was not why you came to see me."

"No, actually. Something is bothering me."

"I knew it! Dear girl, confess to me your strife."

Weiss tried to not look embarrassed. "I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY."

"That's preposterous," Port said, not hesitating for a second. "Professor Ozpin has seen hundreds of teams pass through this school, and he has selected the leader for every single one. He always manages to choose the most qualified person, even if their _qualifications_ aren't immediately apparent."

"So you'd just blindly follow him even after seeing how exceptional I am?"

"With all due respect, young lady, your exceptional skill is matched only by your exceptional- _ly_ poor attitude."

"How dare you!"

"I don't blame you at all."

"What?"

"Your privileged upbringing is no secret at this school."

"So that's what this is about? You guys all think I'm spoiled? That it would be good for me to not have my way for once?"

"I didn't say that. I just see a person in front of me who is used to getting what they want."

"That's not even remotely true. My dad—"

He waved a hand to silence her. "I don't want to hear it. Your upbringing did not preclude your chances at becoming team leader. Now, listen to what I say carefully. Is being a leader all it's cracked up to be?"

"Of course it is."

"Putting up with constant scrutiny, taking the brunt of the blame, all the extra work—for what, having your name said first?"

Weiss gritted her teeth. "Don't try to convince me it's not worth it."

"Consider this, then. It always bothered me when schools promise to 'turn your children into great leaders.'" Port laughed. "We only need so many leaders. On teams like yours, it's one leader for every four students. With other jobs, it can be far less. One person leading a group of ten—or a company of hundreds. We need good followers even more than we need people to lead them.

"Listen to those in charge of you and you'll earn just as much respect—and create opportunities to be a leader in other capacities. I wasn't the leader of my team, but did that stop me from becoming a teacher?"

"I guess it didn't," Weiss admitted. "So, you're saying I should just suck it up and listen to Ruby?"

"If you want my honest answer," Port said, "it's all you can do. You had the same opportunity as everyone else to be chosen, and you weren't. Do you really think complaining to those in charge will change their minds? More likely it will confirm their suspicions that you want to be a leader for personal gain only. So instead of fretting over what you don't have, savor what you do. Support Ruby and the rest of your team, and be not the best leader, but the best follower, teammate, and person you can be. I know you can do it."

Weiss searched for something to say, then decided it would be better to remain silent. She folded her arms and smiled.

* * *

The dorm room lay in silence. Yang was sprawled on her bunk, arms and legs splayed over the sides, snoring heavily. Blake lay below on her own bed with sheets and blankets twisted around her like a cocoon. Ruby was passed out in a half-sitting position. Leather-bound books with spidery writing covered her lap and a blanket had been hung up to screen her bed. An extinguished candle sat on the table next to her.

A click marked the opening of the door. It opened fast, but a hand snaked through the gap and grabbed it before it got close to the wall. Weiss crept in, barefoot and with a steaming mug in her other hand. She closed the door carefully before pulling away the blanket over Ruby's bed.

The bottom of the blanket had been tucked under Ruby's arm, and the sudden jostling pulled her from sleep. She gasped when she saw Weiss standing over her, then burst forth a sea of apologies and excuses.

"Shh," Weiss whispered. "Not so loud. You were studying, right?"

"Yeah I had to finish the reading for Port's class, but I just fell asleep! I don't know if I can focus now."

Weiss nodded and smiled. "In that case, how do you take your coffee?"

"Coffee? I don't really…"

Weiss waved the mug. "Answer the question."

"Cream and five sugars," she stammered, "and not too hot."

Weiss dug the sugars out of her bag, and the cream out of a miniature refrigerator, before bringing the mug back over to the bed. Ruby clutched at it but Weiss held it just out of reach. "One last thing, Ruby."

"Yeah?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

* * *

 **I have some gripes with this chapter, like it reading too much like a script, but I was sick of delays. Someday I'll revisit, as I always say...**


	7. Chapter 7: Jaunedice

**I've returned.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Jaunedice

Jaune's fingers were locked in a white-knuckled grip on his shield. His whole arm was numb from the strain of blocking repeated mace strikes. Every part of his body was tensed, sweaty, and shaking. And although he'd avoided a direct hit, his vision and thoughts were still scrambled. He had no idea what his aura level was, and the battle strategies they'd been instructed on earlier were the last thing on his mind.

His opponent, the brawny Cardin Winchester, laughed. His mace dangled lazily over his shoulder. Jaune grimaced as Cardin's cronies began to laugh as well, from their seats somewhere in the shadows. He let his shield fall.

Cardin's eyes followed it to the ground. "Surrendering?" he said. "Really, Jauney-boy? I expected better."

Jaune shook his head. "Not to you." He dropped his left foot back and turned his body sideways, raising his sword.

Cardin realized that the turn would make Jaune much more difficult to hit. Pretty smart—not that he was going to let the wimp know that. "Pretty dumb to lose your shield like that, Jauney-boy," sneered Cardin. "Don't go whining when I clobber you."

Jaune took two steps forward. It was the first offensive movement he'd made since the duel began. Cardin didn't respond, so Jaune took another two, and another. By the time he was halfway to Cardin, he was running close to a full sprint. Mentally, Jaune expected a swing from the boy's mace and was prepared to dodge it.

He was not prepared for Cardin's foot. It came out at the last second, and Jaune barely had enough time to look down. He was on the ground before the thought of dodging it even crossed his mind, and the heavy impact of a blow between his shoulder blades eliminated any chance of him getting back up. Aching pains swam up and down his spine. He braced himself for the flurry of strikes that would surely follow.

"Enough," came a voice from outside the ring. Glynda stepped out onto the sand as the amphitheater lights clicked on, revealing rows of students watching in stands above. "In a real fight," she said, "Mister Arc would likely be dead. In a tournament-style duel such as this one, he has merely lost. Defeat occurs when aura reserves fall below ten or twenty percent, depending on the tournament.

"In this case, Cardin's final attack was unnecessary and drained his opponent's aura completely. Attacking an opponent whose aura is already below a losing threshold can cause a serious injury, which will result in your disqualification from the tournament. Mr. Winchester, proper monitoring of your opponent's aura can prevent incidents like these. Keep that in mind."

"Whatever."

"As for you, Mister Arc," she said as Jaune scrambled to his feet, "I hoped you would have learned by now. You aren't referring to your scroll during combat. When your aura level drops, you should hold your attacks and adopt a more defensive strategy."

Jaune wanted to point out that he'd gotten hit plenty even _with_ a defensive strategy, and that he'd never win without making attacks of his own. Still, he held his tongue.

Glynda turned back to the class, who immediately ceased its chattering. "The rest of you aren't off the hook," she said, "because the advice I've given today applies to all of you. Even if you have no expectation or desire to advance beyond the group stage of the Vytal tournament, you are required to know the rules of sanctioned single combat. For our next class, please prepare a one-page essay on the history of the Vytal festival. Dismissed."

* * *

"That class was great," said Ruby as her team filed out of the classroom, heading to dinner, "but at this rate, it'll be weeks before any of us get a chance to fight. It's no fun to just watch."

"It's completely unacceptable," said Weiss. "I'm paying out-of-Kingdom tuition and I don't even get to fight for weeks at a time? It's not like my family can't afford it, but I _intend_ to get my money's worth."

"Aww, relax, Weiss," said Yang. "There's plenty to get out of combat training besides the actual combat, and I'm saying that as someone who's itching to fight myself. Just keep raising your hand and you'll get picked before too long."

"Why'd Jaune get picked, then?" asked Ruby. "He's not the hand-raising type."

"It's obvious," said Blake, startling the rest of her team by speaking for the first time since the morning. "Miss Goodwitch singled him out as an example of bad technique so she could teach the things she wanted to."

Yang nodded. "That wasn't a fair matchup. Although, no offense, I don't think matching anyone with Jaune would be an even fight."

"That sucks," said Ruby. "Jaune's a good person, just not so great a fighter. Hey! There's JNPR now. C'mon, let's go sit with them."

Nora was in the middle of telling a story as Ruby and her team sat down. Pyrrha was listening, Ren was slumped with his head in his hands, and Jaune was sitting off to the side.

"So," Nora said, sweeping her head over the table, "there we were. Alone, in the middle of the night."

"It was day," mumbled Ren.

Nora ignored him. "And circling around us were pairs of glowing red eyes. We were surrounded by bloodthirsty Ursai!"

"Ursai?" said Ren. "I thought it was Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of them."

"They thought they had snuck up on us, but Ren and I were prepared."

"Jaune?" interrupted Pyrrha. "Are you O.K?"

He didn't answer.

"Let me finish," hissed Nora. "And when it was done, Ren and I hauled them away and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for over a month now. It seems to get more ridiculous each time she tells it. There's no such thing as an Ursa skin rug — it would disintegrate before you could ever pick it up."

"Ren! Don't ruin my story!"

"Jaune," said Pyrrha, visibly more concerned this time. "Jaune! Are you O.K?"

"What?" he sputtered, shaking his head and blinking. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that, Jaune?" asked Ruby. "You really took a beating during class. You don't seem like someone that's doing okay."

"Honestly, guys, I'm fine," he insisted. "Cardin just kicked the crap out of me. It's not like it'd be different with anyone else. I'm more worried about that girl over there."

He pointed at a brown-haired girl sitting at a nearby table. Cardin, Sky, Russell, and Dove stood around her, pointing and jeering at the fuzzy pair of rabbit ears poking up from her hair.

"She's a Faunus," said Blake. "That's the first one I've seen here."

Ruby's jaw dropped. "She has bunny ears? That's so cool! I wish I had those."

Blake shrugged. "It's not so cool when you consider the stigma it carries for some people. It can result in unwanted attention and harassment from certain groups. Cardin and his team being Exhibit A."

"That's terrible. Is that why there've been so many protests?"

"There's always been protests. They're only getting attention now because of how they've turned violent."

"Jaune," said Pyrrha, "do you agree that what Cardin's team is doing to that girl constitutes bullying?"

"Huh? Of course it does, that's why I pointed it out."

"Then you agree that he's bullying you as well?"

"Me? Cardin? Nah. Sure, he went hard on me during class, but everything else has just been a practical joke."

"So it was a practical joke when he shoved you in a rocket locker and activated it?"

"Of course it was. I didn't land that far from the school."

"Jaune, you could have broken your legs!"

"Yeah!" Nora cut in. "How about we break _his_ legs, huh?"

"What about," said Pyrrha, "the time he got your shield stuck in the door? Or knocked your textbooks out of your hand? Or just plain shoved you, like he did yesterday? That's bullying."

"I mean, you're not wrong, but Cardin's a jerk to everyone. He's not singling me out."

"That hurts, stop it!" screeched a voice from nearby.

Ruby wheeled around to see who it was. She cringed at the sight of Cardin gripping the Faunus girl by her ears, and couldn't resist calling him out. "Let go of her, you jerk!"

Cardin grunted and released his hold. The girl dashed out of the circle of Cardin's team, mouthing a silent _thank you_ to Ruby and her friends as she left the cafeteria.

"What a freak," said Cardin, as he dusted short, fuzzy hairs from his hands. "I told you her ears were real."

"That's crazy, Cardin," said the mohawked boy, Russel. "I thought they kept all the _animals_ locked up on Menagerie."

A few tables away, Blake shuddered. "They're the animals," she whispered, "every single one of them."

"I… can't believe they're serious," said Yang.

Nora too was glum. "I'd go beat them up, but we'd be no better than they are."

"I was looking at the class lists and curriculums earlier," said Pyrrha, "and I believe Team CRDL is in the same history class as all of us, right after dinner. The Faunus Revolution and Civil Rights Movement are primary topics of that class. Perhaps, the exposure will be good for Cardin and his team."

Yang snorted. "Not likely."

"Who's teaching history?" asked Ruby, pulling a crumpled schedule out of her pocket. "Remnant's History. Room 18. Bartholomew—"

* * *

"Oobleck," said the professor, scratching his name on the board in chalk, "Bartholomew Oobleck, Ph.D. You, the students, shall address me as Doctor and then Oobleck, in that order. At least I'll get _something_ out of my degree, hmm?"

"Whatever you say, Barty," piped up a voice from the back: Cardin. The rest of his team laughed.

Oobleck's eyebrows shot up so fast that his glasses nearly popped off his head. His spiky green hair stood on end. He moved with lightning speed to the boy's desk, speaking much more slowly now. "What was that, Mr. Winchester?"

Cardin wasn't fazed easily, nor was he known to back down. He usually didn't let people get the final word or blow—not even teachers. But, something about Oobleck's rapid movement and abruptly slowed speech were immensely unsettling. He swallowed, for once not caring about looking tough in front of his team. "I just said, 'I'll be sure to do that, Doctor Oobleck'. Nothing else."

The professor shot back to the front of the room, speech returning to his usual rapid-fire. "I'm not sure how accurate your account is, Mr. Winchester, but it's good enough for me. Be aware that you are on thin ice in this class. I don't know how many of your previous teachers allowed rude or unproductive behavior, but I assure you I will not be one of them.

"Now, I've wasted enough time on discipline for today. In fact, my allotted two minutes and forty-five seconds of introductory time are already over. Before we begin our first unit, the Faunus Civil War and Rights Revolution, I believe we should first determine the class's current level of knowledge. To do this, I will provide a brief summary while calling upon students at random to fill in details. You should know most of this already, but it's fine if you don't. For now.

"While the peaceful aspects of the Faunus Civil Rights movement are equally important, I believe that discussion of the subsequent Civil War might be more conducive and thus serve to galvanize your young minds. Now, who among you can tell me what the current scholarly consensus is regarding the turning point of the war?"

A pale hand sprung up in the front row.

"Yes," said Oobleck, "Miss Schnee."

"The Battle at Fort Castle."

"Very good. After all, Fort Castle is considered by many to be the most decisive battle in the history of the continent! Despite being better organized and equipped, General Lagune's forces were defeated by the Faunus army after a failed ambush. What inherent advantage, not considered by Lagune, was key to a Faunus victory?"

A few hands went up, but the Oobleck ignored them. "Not you," he said, "we need full class participation. Ah, Mister Arc! I see you've been sleeping to allow my lecture to ruminate in your head. Let's see how effective it was. Tell me, what advantage did the Faunus have?"

Jaune had just managed to extricate his head from the open textbook he'd been using as a pillow. He heard the professor's question, but nothing that came before it. In desperation he looked to Pyrrha, who cupped her hands over her eyes and nodded in encouragement.

"The advantage," Jaune said, "that the Faunus had over the other guy was… binoculars?"

The class roared with laughter. Pyrrha curled her mouth, ashamed, but still trying not to smile. Cardin laughed the loudest of all, flicking a spitball he'd prepared earlier at Jaune.

"Very funny, Mister Arc," said Oobleck. "I noticed Mister Winchester thought so as well. Perhaps, Cardin, you have an answer of your own to share?"

"I don't know for sure," said Cardin, "but it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

Oobleck shook his head. "I cannot believe you, Cardin. Why it is exactly this kind of ignorance that breeds violence."

"You're not exactly being open-minded with that answer," interrupted Pyrrha, "are you, Cardin?"

"You got a problem?"

"No," she said, "I have the answer. It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect vision in the dark."

"You can thank General Lagune for the failed ambush," said Blake, turning to Cardin. "Maybe if he'd paid attention in class, and hadn't been so damn _ignorant_ , his army wouldn't have been captured."

Cardin scowled. He pushed out his chair and stood up, then grabbed his bag. He stopped as the professor zoomed in front of him.

"Mister Winchester! Please, take your seat."

Now it was Jaune's turn to chuckle. The laugh was abruptly cut off as Oobleck wheeled around and stopped in front of his desk.

"You think discrimination is so hilarious, Mister Arc? You can join him. Both of you, see me after class for an additional assignment. Now, let's continue."

The rest of Oobleck's first lesson was uneventful, except for a few withering glares shared between Jaune and Cardin. Weiss and Blake proved to be more knowledgeable than the doctor had anticipated, and he rewarded them with an extra, more difficult section of reading to look at for the next class. If they were bothered by the extra work, they didn't show it.

At the conclusion of class, the students filed out in relief. Cardin tried to slip out with the rest of his team, but Oobleck caught him at the door and beckoned him toward his desk, where Jaune was already waiting.

"I just can't understand what the problem is," said Oobleck, taking a long drink of his coffee. "You two aren't the only students causing problems, but you are a big part of it. I don't know if it's lack of interest, or history between you two, or just stubbornness, but whatever it is, it stops here. Do you understand?"

"Yep," said Jaune.

"Uh huh," said Cardin.

"That's not good enough for me. Give me a nice, sincere, 'Yes, Doctor Oobleck'."

"Yes, Doctor Oobleck," they repeated.

"That's better. Remember, both of you, these words. If you don't learn from history… you're destined to repeat it."

"That's _great_ ," said Cardin. "Can we go now?"

"Don't think I haven't forgotten about your extra assignment. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one, I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now, run along."

* * *

Jaune was glad to finally be out of class. He wasn't relishing the forty pages of reading he'd have to do later, but it was worth it seeing Cardin upset. Speaking of which, where had Cardin gone? He must have run ahead after Oobleck had let them go.

As usual, Jaune was looking up, not down. He missed the outstretched foot as he turned the corner, and groaned in pain as Cardin sent him sprawling to the floor once again.

"Piece of shit," muttered Cardin as he stalked off down the hall.

For a minute or two, Jaune did nothing but lie on the floor in silence. It wasn't that his injuries were even so bad. They were nothing more than bruises. He was just afraid to face his team and scared of the possibility that Cardin might still be around the corner. It was a voice from down the hall that convinced him to pick himself back up.

"Jaune? Where are you?"

Pyrrha was relieved to find her teammate free of serious injuries, but she still panicked a little seeing him sprawled out on the floor.

"Oh, hey Pyrrha," Jaune mumbled, dragging himself back to his feet. "What's new with you? I took a little spill."

"I'm not dumb," she said, "I know Cardin did this. What he's been doing is unacceptable. I can't let it go on any longer."

"Can't really argue with that one."

"Good. Then don't. Just come with me."

Pyrrha led Jaune up three flights of stairs and through a metal utility door, opening out onto a flat, unfinished platform—somewhere between a roof and a patio. It was late enough in the fall that the sun had already set, and the only sources of light were the moon, the buildings in downtown Vale, and the brilliant green flare atop the CCT tower, shining through the city like a beacon.

"What's this for?" Jaune asked, "and, uh, are we allowed to be out here?" He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down fifty feet to the grounds below. "I'm unhappy, Pyrrha, but I'm not _that_ depressed."

Pyrrha looked to the edge and then back at Jaune before she realized what he meant. "No!" she yelped, yanking him away from the ledge. "Why would you even think that? I brought you up here because… I know you're having trouble in class and with Cardin, so I wanted to help you."

"You do? How?"

"We can train up here after class. It's a nice open area, there's no one else around, and—provided we don't fall off—it'll be a great place to practice fighting."

"Hold on a second. You think I need help?"

"I didn't mean that!"

"But you just said it."

"So I did. Jaune, everyone needs a push from time to time. That doesn't mean it's a judgement of you as a person. You've already proven yourself very capable. You had to, in order to get to Beacon."

Jaune turned back to the edge. "I wish that was true, but it's not. I don't belong here and nothing you say or do can change that."

"Don't be silly. You can always get better."

"I wasn't accepted to Beacon."

"Wh-what?"

"I wasn't accepted to Beacon."

"Jaune, what are you talking about? Do you mean you don't think they should have—"

"No, Pyrrha, I meant what I said. I wasn't accepted here, at least not legitimately. I didn't go to other combat schools, didn't pass any tests, and I don't have a good background. I faked my transcripts and lied about everything. That's the only reason I got in. And I still would have failed during initiation if I hadn't been paired with you."

"But, why?"

Jaune had to think about that one for a second because his reasons for attending Beacon had changed drastically since he'd arrived. What did Pyrrha want to hear? A sob story? The truth? Better to just start with why he'd done it in the first place.

"Because this is what I always wanted to be. Or at least what I thought I wanted, that fact's been up in the air recently. My dad, and my dad's dad, and my dad's dad's—ugh, you get the point. They were all huntsmen, and pretty famous ones too. I just wasn't good enough to make it by myself. I didn't—don't want to be the one that failed."

"Then let me help you!"

"What if I don't want your help? What if I'm tired of being the damsel in distress, the lovable idiot who has to be bailed out by his friends over and over but can't do things on his own? What if I didn't want to cheat my way in, but I had to because I couldn't bear the thought of failing? If I can't do things on my own… then what good am I?"

"Jaune, you don't understand. I'm offering to help you get better, and after I did, you _could_ do things on your own. You just have to get there first. Please, trust me."

He shoved away Pyrrha's outstretched arm. "Just… leave me alone."

Pyrrha bowed her head. "If you really think that's best, I will."

Jaune began to pace as the metal door to the roof slammed closed. He wiped away a layer of warm, salty tears as he held back sobs. The words had barely left his mouth and he was already regretting them. He had pushed away a teammate out of embarrassment, a teammate who was understanding and had wanted to help him. Now he was stuck doing it the hard way, helping himself and trying to get by at a school where everyone except him deserved to be there.

"Oh, Jaune…" called a voice from over the edge of the roof.

Jaune wheeled around and stared at the empty roof in confusion, only to freeze in panic as a figure clambered over the edge of the roof. "Cardin!" he said, "What? How'd you get up here."

"I climbed," said Cardin, getting to his feet. "I'm on the floor right below, and I couldn't help but overhear an argument from out my window."

"You didn't happen to listen to any of it, did you?"

Cardin laughed. "Nah, man, I heard nothing. Only about how you cheated your way in. That's cool, Jauney-boy. I never knew you were such a rebel."

"Just swear you won't tell anyone."

"Don't you know me better than that, Jauney-boy?" Cardin said, stepping forward until he was towering over Jaune. "I'd never rat on a friend like that."

"A… friend?"

Before Jaune could resist, Cardin pulled an arm around his neck, trapping him in a headlock and pulling him to the ground. "Of course we're friends, Jauney-boy," he said. "And we'll stay that way as long as you're doing what I tell you to. For example, I really can't be bothered to write that essay for Oobleck's class. You're already writing one, how much work is it to write one more? Can you do that for me?"

Jaune gasped for air before croaking out, "I… suppose."

"Great!" said Cardin, rubbing Jaune's hair with the back of his knuckles before releasing him. "I knew I could count on you."

He walked back to the edge of the roof as Jaune picked himself up for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

"Remember, Jaune," he said, "we're friends now. As long as you don't go forgetting that, your secret will be safe with me."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8: Forever Fall

**My longest chapter ever. I... didn't see this one coming.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Forever Fall

As the clock drew closer to twelve, the lights in each Beacon dormitory clicked off one by one. Some were more stubborn, others turned off and back on, but as the midnight chime drew near, only a few remained lit. Team JNPR's dorm was one of those.

Nora sat on her bed, tapping her feet on the carpet. She had changed into a grey t-shirt and pink shorts dotted with lightning bolts, and the fact that she wasn't bouncing off the walls was evident of how tired she was. Ren was lying down with his eyes closed.

Pyrrha flipped through her textbook, blinking to stop her eyes from crossing. Truthfully, there was no reason for her to be doing so. Every bit of work she'd been assigned was already finished, and studying such entry-level topics wasn't doing any good. It was just a way to keep her mind off the drama. Ren was sullen, Nora had half her usual energy, and—

"Where's Jaune?" Nora finally asked. "He's been getting back late every night, and we hardly see him during the day."

"He's become scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin," said Ren. "Quite a turnaround considering their earlier interactions."

"You're right, that is weird. I know the teachers said we should make friends with other teams, but shouldn't he be hanging out with us more? And getting more rest? He _knows_ we have a field trip tomorrow."

Pyrrha closed her textbook with a snap. "Don't worry Nora," she said in a patronizing tone. "You should have more _faith_ in our leader. I'm sure Jaune knows exactly what he's doing."

* * *

Jaune bolted up the stairs as fast as his sore muscles would let him. Each footfall made an audible clop that echoed through the empty hall. Not the most polite way to behave at this time of night, although courtesy was the last thing on his mind right now.

He had just spent the last two hours in the library, struggling through a triple serving of homework—Or was it dorm work?—from Professor Peach. Double because of a prank that Cardin had forced him to pull in her class that morning, and triple because Cardin had pawned his own work off on him as well.

There hadn't even been enough time for Jaune to finish his own assignment. The librarian had all but kicked him out the door, and now he had to hurry to not be locked out of his own dorm. Cardin had to come first, or there would be hell to pay. That meant three distinctly different and well-researched essays on aspects of the Forever Fall forest, typed, stapled, and given to Professor Peach before the field trip the next morning. He had managed to get Cardin's done, but the two of his own were still incomplete and with the library closed he had no way to finish them.

Jaune paused outside of the JNPR dorm. He was relieved to see light coming from under the door, but that wouldn't make the conversation with his team any easier. Already he was thinking up excuses, anticipating the questions that Pyrrha and Nora would surely ask. Nothing he could say would change their opinion of him, and that thought filled Jaune with dread. Even if he could keep Cardin's mouth shut for the remaining three years and however many weeks, he had already failed his team. Still, standing outside wouldn't change anything. He had to just muster up the courage and open the door.

His hand was just reaching for the knob when Jaune heard the sound of another door swinging open. He froze, then whirled around to see who it was. Ruby, wearing a Beowulf sleep mask and pajamas polka-dotted with roses, looked up at him wide-eyed.

"Hey, Jaune!" she said, breaking the silence. "I haven't seen you all week."

"That's not too surprising. It's, uh, been a busy one."

Ruby frowned. "I'm sure it has, but it's something more than that. I talked to Nora the other day, and she said you were avoiding them. Not only that, but you were hanging out with Cardin! That just doesn't make sense after how much of a jerk he was to you. What's actually going on?"

"I…" Jaune sputtered, searching for an excuse and not finding one. The look in Ruby's eyes showed that lies weren't going to work any more. That realization made everything come tumbling out. "I really screwed up. Cardin knows something about me, and I can't let anyone find out. He makes me do all his homework, and avoid my own team, and now Pyrrha won't even talk to me."

He let out a shuddering breath and slid his back down the wall to sit. "I'm starting to think I've made a bad decision coming here. Even _if_ I deal with Cardin, then I've still failed as a leader. It's only been two weeks and my team already hates me."

"Nope," said Ruby, joining him on the floor. "You're not allowed to be a failure."

"Oh yeah? Well, what if I fail at being a leader? I mean, hell, I already have."

"Nope."

"Well, you're certainly making this easy for me."

"Jaune, maybe you thought you were a failure when you didn't get into Beacon. Maybe you thought you thought you were a failure when you arrived. Maybe you still think you're one right now. But that ends here. Once you stand up, you will no longer be a failure."

"I wish it worked like that."

"It has to work like that, Jaune, because it's not just your decision anymore."

"Uhh, why?"

"Because of what you just said! You're a leader now, with your own team. I am, too. And it's not fair to bring down the three other people we're in charge of because we're not strong enough." Ruby stood and began to walk back to her room. "Your team needs a good leader, Jaune, and it's not too late for that leader to be you. Goodnight!"

The door closed, leaving the hallway silent and empty again. Jaune took a few deep breaths to calm his heartbeat, which was still elevated from his frantic race up the stairs. He couldn't take too long, though. Who knew how long he'd have before his team turned off the lights for the night, making his impending conversation with them even more awkward.

 _Bzz! Bzz!_ Buzzed Jaune's scroll from his pocket. His slowed heartbeat jolted back to a rapid beat as he read the name on the screen. Cardin Winchester.

Jaune raised the phone to his ear. "Y… yes?" he managed to choke out.

"Hey, Jauney-boy!" boomed Cardin's voice from the speakers. "How's it going, my pal?"

 _Cringe_. "I don't have time for this, Cardin. Just tell me what you want done."

His roaring laugh made the line crackle. "Easy, brother! Can't two friends talk for a minute? That essay better be done."

Jaune sighed. Doing Cardin's work was enough trouble without putting up with the guy himself. "Yes, Cardin, it's done."

"Great! Now, I know it's late, but I need one more little thing tonight. I've been hatching my latest plot, and boy is it a good one. Head out to the woods next to the school. Bring a jar with you, and don't bother coming back until you've filled it up with rapier wasps. And make sure those puppies have some nasty stingers!"

That was far from a _little thing_. Traipsing through the woods in the middle of the night was bad enough, not to mention against the rules. Minor Grimm were rumored to be found there. Rapier wasps, on the other hand, were probably the most dangerous creatures on campus, unless an Ursa happened to wander through. They were infamous for their aggressiveness and powerful sting, and could do so multiple times if provoked for some reason… such as trying to catch them in a jar. Trying to do so in the dark would be tantamount to suicide.

Almost as worrying was what Cardin would do with the bugs. Or more accurately, what he would make Jaune do with them. If he was going to get expelled, better to have it be for cheating than for a dangerous prank that sent a student to the hospital. Whatever it was, it would probably happen the next day, during the field trip.

Ruby's words came to mind. If the prank got someone from his team hurt, there would be no one to blame but himself. He would betray the trust, however misguided, that the Headmaster, Ozpin, had placed in him. Maybe, just maybe Cardin would forget about it by morning. Jaune just had to talk him out of it until then. Pleading had never worked, so he had to try something new.

With as much confidence as he could summon, Jaune said, "No, I can't get any tonight. Sorry about that."

"Say that again?"

"I… I can't get you the wasps tonight."

"Was that our deal, Jauney-boy? That you get things done when you _can_? Well, I _can_ just skip down to the office and let slip the details about your admission."

"Don't!" hissed Jaune as the scroll went silent, praying that Cardin hadn't hung up. "Please, listen to me for a second." So much for being confident.

"I'm listening."

"Then… I just think it'll be better to get the wasps in the morning. They'll be, uh, fresher."

"Fine. To be honest, I could care less when you get them. As long as we have them by the time we leave for the field trip, everything will go nice and smoothly. Have fun. Bye!"

Jaune let out a huge breath as he fell to his knees in relief. The moment was cut short by the sound of footsteps from under the door of his dorm. With the sweat wiped from his brow and a quick finger-comb of his hair, Jaune walked to the door. Once again his hand hesitated on the knob. This hesitation, however, only lasted for a moment. He opened the door and slipped inside moments before the room went dark.

* * *

The roaring turbine motors drowned out the wind as the bullhead descended. Fifteen feet above the ground, the draft from the spinning blades blasted red and golden from the ground, leaving a circle of mud and twigs. A motorized door slid open on each side of the craft. Glynda waved students away from the doors, shouting at them to wait until the Bullhead landed. For once, no one listened to her. The engine was too loud and the surrounding forest too beautiful. Clumps of cherry-red trees stretched to the horizon, and their fallen leaves practically screamed of autumn.

As soon as the last students got their feet on the ground, Glynda addressed the group by saying, "Alright, students, please listen to me for a minute. As I said before, Professor Peach is sick. I will be supervising instead. Some of you may not be happy about that, but you should be glad I volunteered. Otherwise, we would have cancelled the trip and sent you all to a study hall. Wouldn't you rather be here?

"Now, Forever Fall is a breathtaking place, but don't forget about your assignment: collecting a jar of sap each and taking a page of notes on its properties. And above all, please be careful. This is a natural place. That means there is a chance you could encounter some Grimm. Do not engage if you see one, and come _straight_ to me. Telling other students could cause a panic that would draw more Grimm to the area.

"We'll meet back here at four o'clock. I'm the only teacher here, so please, stay with your teams and out of trouble."

Jaune was relieved to hear that last part. Last night he'd finally explained what was happening to his team. He hadn't mentioned the cheating or Cardin's blackmail specifically, but Pyrrha already knew about the former and could probably connect the dots. Whatever additional risk was incurred by sharing his plight was outweighed by the relief that he was finally being honest with them—at least in part. He'd also promised to spend as much of the field trip with them as he could.

That had been last night. This morning, on the other hand, had so far been a total drag. If Jaune had hoped that Cardin would forget about the wasps overnight, that hope was shattered by a 6:00 wake-up call that had sent him scurrying for the woods. One mostly-full jar of wasps later he had returned, still exhausted and miraculously free of stings. Facing a nest of aggressive insects didn't seem so bad, compared to facing Cardin.

"Hey, Cardin, over there!" shouted the squeaky voice of Russel. "Look, we found him!"

Sky, Dove, and Russel trotted up and seized Jaune by his wrists. Cardin followed behind slowly, the hint of a smile on his face as Jaune struggled. He spat out the twig he'd been holding between his teeth and said, "Were you running away from us?"

Jaune gulped and shook his head. "No way."

"Huh. Well, in that case, Boys—" he gestured to Sky, Dove, and Russel, "—you can release him. But you'd better not go anywhere."

Jaune was released—after one more round of punches, that is. He rubbed his arms for a second, then reached into his bag to pull out the jar of wasps. Taking great pains not to drop it, he held it out to Cardin like an offering. The boy grabbed it with no similar degree of care.

"Damn," he said, peering at the two dozen or so fat wasps inside, "you really did get them. Nice job, Jauney-boy."

Jaune nodded glumly, only thinking of what they would be used for.

"So," Cardin continued, "as much as I want to use these, we can't quite yet. Our assignment isn't done. Mind taking care of it for us?"

"You, me, Sky, Dove, and Russel. That's five jars of sap?"

"Make that six."

"What? Why's that?"

"Why? 'Cause I said so, shithead. Now grab six jars from the crate over by the Bullhead and fill 'em up. We'll be here. And don't even think about slinking off to your own team, because I'll know."

It wasn't like Jaune would have done that anyway. After going back on his promise to his team to stay with them during the field trip, he doubted they wanted to see his sorry ass, anyway. What would he tell them this time? Better not to think about it just yet.

Jaune found the jars and managed to sneak back into the forest while avoiding Glynda, Team RWBY, and of course, his own team. Six jars was a lot, but there was no shortage of trees. A single trunk could contain a dozen jars of sap. The tricky part was getting it out. Crocea Mors could carve up the bark no problem, but would struggle to get through the soft, gummy wood on the inside. The inner layers were coated with sap, but there was no practical way to extract it from the wood. At the tree's heart was a cylindrical reservoir with all the sap Jaune needed. His sword just wasn't the right tool to puncture it. You needed a drill, or at the very least a spear to get that far.

Unless that is, someone got there for you. Jaune had followed the pungent sweet smell down the hall and froze when he reached the bottom of it. A half-dozen trees had been ripped open to their centers. Chunks of bark and long splinters of wood littered the ground, and the standing parts of each tree had been scored by claws that were at least an inch thick.

Whatever was responsible for dismembering the trees had taken with it most of the sap. Fortunately, it hadn't been patient or thorough. Leftover sap had dripped down the hollowed-out trunk and settled in pools at the bottom. The amount varied per tree but came out to around two-thirds of a jar per tree. With Jaune needing six jars and having no desire to hack open more trees, he hoped two-thirds would be enough. After all, no one said the jars had to be full.

With the sticky jars packed carefully into his bag, Jaune began to sneak back to Team CRDL. Once again, he hoped nobody would notice him. The clinking glass made that almost impossible. The slower you went, the louder the jars seemed. Eventually, he abandoned stealth and began to lunge up the hill as quick as he could. He moved so carelessly that he nearly barreled into Ren as he passed the crest of the hill.

Ren stepped smoothly out of the way. Jaune came to halt. He waited for the anger, for the questions, but Ren said nothing. Of course. He just frowned and gave Jaune a sharp glance before he continued down the hill. Coming from Ren, that was derision of the highest order. Still, he had gotten lucky. If Ren was around, then Nora was probably close by.

"Ren! Rehhhhnnn!"

In fact, there was her voice right now. No time to waste. Jaune took off running again, wincing at the clamor accompanying each step. Despite saying that they weren't going to move, Cardin and his gang weren't where he'd left them. They had migrated across the clearing and atop another small hill, where they were lazily resting under the shade of a tree. Bitterness welled inside Jaune, and at the top of the hill he roughly dumped the bag of jars on Cardin. It was nothing but a petty attempt to get even, but still managed to be satisfying. That satisfaction faded as Cardin caught the bag without a hitch.

"—four, five, and six," he counted. "Good work, Jauney-boy. The other teams are still on their first jar."

Russel darted up from the far side of the hill, evidently back from another reconnaissance mission.

"Hey, Cardin! She's back."

"Who's back?" asked Jaune.

Cardin rose from his sprawled out position. "I don't know," he said, in a voice that made it clear he did. "Why don't we go and see?"

Jaune peered down into the forest and swore. There was only one person they could be talking about. Pyrrha was collecting sap from a hole she had poked in a tree at the base of the hill. She was busy and far enough away to be oblivious to the five people watching her.

"That stuck-up bitch," Cardin whined. "She's always showing off, always telling me off in class."

"She is a bitch," piped up Sky, "but man, what would you pay for a roll with that?"

Blood rushed to Jaune's head as he realized what they were talking about. He wanted to speak, but his voice would do nothing but catch.

Cardin scoffed. "I wouldn't pay her one red cent. She doesn't deserve it. But I do see where you're coming from."

"Guys!" Jaune finally managed to say. "D-Don't talk about her like that. I mean it."

"What, you think it's going to hurt her feelings? She'll never know unless you tell her."

"Just because she can't hear you doesn't mean it's right."

"Just because it isn't right doesn't mean that I care. Jaune, why don't you drop the act? That girl doesn't give a rat's ass about you."

"No thanks to you, Cardin."

"Keep on believing, you little sap," he teased. "It's not important to me. After all, I just want my revenge."

"On her?"

There was no answer. Instead, he passed Jaune one of the jars.

"So, I bet you're wondering: 'Why did my buddy, Cardin, tell me to get six jars of sap, when there's only five of us? And what are those wasps for?' Well, I'll tell you. Rapier wasps aren't just known for being aggressive. They also _looove_ sweets. Sap included. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Maybe?" Jaune lied.

Cardin pointed down the hill at Pyrrha, who was still gathering from the tree. "Hit her with the sap and the wasps. Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch."

And there it was. A kill or be killed situation. Or, more accurately, kill and be killed anyway. Jaune would either burn his last bridges with Pyrrha and his team or be expelled and burn them anyway. No matter how strictly he adhered to Cardin's demands, the boy would run his mouth anyway for the hell of it, as soon as he got bored. When all roads led to disaster, why not pick the one that came with some bittersweet payback?

"No," said Jaune, adjusting his sweaty grip on the jar.

"You know, _my friend_ , that's the second time in twelve hours you've told me that. I'm starting to think you've forgotten our—"

"I said, no!" hissed Jaune, as he swung his trembling arm up and over.

* * *

Pyrrha watched as Nora stumbled back over to her, with Ren close behind. She rolled her eyes at the purple stain around Nora's mouth.

"Nora, you're not supposed to _drink_ the sap," she said.

"You took mine as well," Ren added.

Nora was hyperactive enough on her own that all coffee, tea, and soda couldn't be left out in the dorm; hey had to be locked up. After inhaling two jars of pure sap, she was halfway between a manic fit and a stupor. Her eyes would droop, only to pop to the top of her sockets along with a burst of giggling. Ren looked entirely unconcerned.

"She's done this before," he said. "It's nothing to worry about."

Pyrrha looked at the jar in Ren's hand, which was all but empty. She asked, "I'm guessing you need more sap? There's plenty left in my tree. Here, give me Nora's jar and we can fill both of them. She's had more than enough to drink already."

Nora burped. It was a loud, slurpy belch, which fortunately was not accompanied by emesis. But something… something was off about the sound. It was impossibly loud and deep, and it seemed to come from the surrounding forest rather than Nora herself. It was after the girl's mouth closed and the sound continued that Pyrrha realized what it was.

"Did you hear that?" she asked as the forest went silent.

Ren looked at Nora. "I should hope I heard it."

Pyrrha shook her head. "There was another sound. A deeper one, coming from the forest. It belonged to a Grimm, a big one."

"Which one?"

"I'm not sure. From what it sounded like, I think it was an—"

"Ursa!" shouted a voice. "That's a big Ursa!"

From the woods came running a boy with a mohawk of faded green hair showing blond at the roots. His hair and clothes were honeycombed with twigs, and somehow he'd lost a shoe. As he drew closer, Pyrrha identified him as Russel, one of Cardin's accomplices. Ugh. Even the thought of Cardin was painful. He was clearly responsible for Jaune's self-imposed isolation. From what Jaune had said the previous night, Cardin had some dirt on him. Ren and Nora were completely in the dark, but Pyrrha knew about Jaune's cheating. It wouldn't be a stretch for Cardin to have found out about it, and used that information as leverage.

Pyrrha was surprised to see Team RWBY cresting the hill toward them. Ruby was leading the group and arrived at the bottom of the hill just as Russel did.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked. "What was that sound? Is everyone O.K.?"

"There's a big Ursa out there!" repeated Russel. "I… I think it got Cardin! He needs—hurk!" His babbling was cut short as Yang grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Is anyone else there?" she asked as she shook him. "And where is it?"

"It's in the woods, right where I ran from. Maybe two minutes away. Dove and Sky ran the other way. Cardin's still there! Oh, and that other kid."

 _Jaune_ , Pyrrha thought.

Ruby reached for her scythe.

Seeing the uneasy glances the others gave her, she said, "I know Glynda told us not to engage, but we can't let anyone get hurt. We'll only fight if someone's in trouble."

"I'll go," said Pyrrha.

Nora had chosen the worst time to collapse. Evidently, she had tired herself out giggling. Ren caught her as her knees buckled and lowered her slowly to the ground, where she began to snore. A quick shake confirmed that she wouldn't be waking up in a hurry.

Pyrrha made a snap decision.

"Two people come with me," she said, "while the others get Nora out of here."

Ruby nodded and said, "Weiss and I can go. Russel, you can—Oh, he left. Blake and Yang, you two help out Ren."

Yang didn't look too happy about being assigned carrying duty, but she went with it anyway. Blake followed her silently, while Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss took off deeper into the woods.

* * *

Jaune didn't know whether to be relieved or scared out of his mind. Just a few minutes earlier he'd been dragged bodily through the mud. He'd been kicked and beaten by Cardin and his team. A few scrapes and a black eye was as bad as his injuries got. At least he had an aura nowadays to protect from the worst of it. Now he had escaped that fate, but was facing the very real possibility of being eaten by an Ursa. An Ursa Major, to be exact, judging from the spines crowning its back.

It was after the sap, of course, that Jaune had not-so-accidentally thrown at Cardin, covering his shirt and armor in sticky goo. For the Ursa, the combination of human-scent and sap-scent was irresistible. It chased him with laser focus, smashing through trees that the boy had managed to squeeze between.

As tempting as it was to dismiss the attack as a fitting punishment, Jaune knew deep down that he couldn't just leave Cardin to be killed. Having thrown the sap, he felt partially responsible. From where he was—crouched under a log—he was safe, but if Cardin ended up as an appetizer, Jaune would be the main course. He had to either run away or help. And running away would make him no better than Cardin's cronies, who were nowhere to be found. So much for loyalty to their leader.

Of all the reasons to take action, that last one seemed the most appealing. Forced or not, Jaune wanted to prove he gave more of a rat's ass about Cardin's life than his team did. If that didn't knock some sense into the bully, nothing ever would. That, and he regretted being the only one who hadn't landed a single attack on a Grimm during initiation. Whether anyone cared about that detail didn't matter to Jaune. He had something to prove.

"Shit!" Cardin yelled as a claw whistled over his head. He was running out of trees to hide behind and walked with a limp.

In a graceful leap at odds with its three-ton weight, the Ursa leapt straight over Cardin and quickly turned, cutting off his path to the next clump of trees. It swiped again, a blow that Cardin attempted to block with his mace. The heavy claw simply had too much momentum and all but forced the weapon from his hand.

The sight of Cardin being disarmed was enough to spur Jaune into moving. During their last fight his shield had been nothing but something to hide behind—this time it would do some good. He ran in front of the stunned Cardin and held up the transformed sheath of Crocea Mors, trying not to flinch as the enormous clawed forearm of the Grimm swept towards him.

Jaune braced himself for pain or a strong impact, but there was none. Only a bright flash of light as the Ursa recoiled, as if it had struck an invisible wall.

* * *

 _Jaune will be alright_ , Pyrrha repeated to herself as she scanned the trees. _He's going to be alright. Everyone will be._

"You asked for two of us, Pyrrha," said Weiss. "What's this plan of yours?"

She pursed her lips. "No plan, I'm afraid. I just felt it was the right number of people."

"I've got a plan!" added Ruby. "We, uh, find it and take it down. After making sure all the students aren't hurt, that is."

The three of them followed the sound of roars and trunks crashing to the ground until they reached a stump-littered clearing. Well, at least _now_ it was a clearing. Jaune crouched facing a gigantic Ursa with his shield up and over Cardin, who was struggling to crawl away on an injured ankle. Pyrrha flinched as the creature swung its arm at the comparatively tiny shield She expected the white-and-gold heater to be batted away by the swing, but it was the Ursa that was sent flying instead, accompanied by a flash that was blinding even in the sun.

"What was that?" Ruby asked. "That wasn't Jaune's semblance, was it?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't believe it was."

"Excuse me," said Weiss, "but are we just going to stand here? That was a very nice block and all, but still…"

Pyrrha looked at the Grimm that was just getting back to its feet, then at Jaune. He still hadn't noticed them. "Just wait here for now. Trust me."

The Ursa was getting back up, and Cardin was still crawling away. Jaune continued to stare at his shield, seemingly confused by the light that had been emitted from it. At the last second, he remembered the Ursa and raised it with a yelp. The beast's claw jabbed forward straight into the shield. This time there was no light or explosion. Sharp claws raked across the metal, chipping the paint before wrapping around the shield's rim. With Jaune's only source of protection pinned in place, the Ursa readied its other arm.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want us to help him?" asked Weiss, with growing concern on her face.

Pyrrha nodded, although she didn't do so with complete confidence. She pointed one hand in the direction of Jaune and furrowed her brow. Almost immediately the metal began to wriggle and warp, twisting itself out of the Ursa's clawed grip. The shield slipped free and Jaune stumbled back, leaving the other claw to whistle through empty air. She let out a deep breath.

Weiss looked from Pyrrha's outstretched arm to the slightly deformed shield in Jaune's hands.

"What did you do—" she asked. "You know what, never mind."

Having taken a few hits and lived to tell the tale, Jaune's initial hesitation had faded. Instead of waiting for the Ursa to close the distance, he went on the attack, taking out his sword. To a creature so large it was looked more like a dagger—maybe even a toothpick.

The Grimm lowered its head in preparation for a charge or bite. It lumbered forward, still wary of the explosion that had struck it earlier. Its unarmored neck hung low and within striking distance. Jaune leaped up and swung his sword, like he was suspicious of how easy it all seemed.

Sure enough, the movement was a feint. The Ursa reared its head back, leaving Jaune's attack far out of reach. Its right arm swept across in a lightning-fast strike. He managed to raise his shield to his hip, but from the sidelines Pyrrha could see that it wouldn't be high enough. The strike would tear right through his shoulder, and in all likelihood his aura couldn't do a thing to stop it.

Images of a bloodied and dying boy flashed before Pyrrha's eyes. She willed them to stop, then raised her arm again and concentrated.

Immediately, Jaune's shield swung up to protect his neck and shoulder, bringing his arm with it. His sword, on its way down and well short of its target, came to life in his hand and leaped for the beast's throat with more force than he could have ever mustered. It passed through fur, skin, muscle, bone, and connective tissue. There was no slicing or puncturing. The metal simply forced its way through the Ursa's stubby hide with the sheer force that was behind it. Putrid smoke billowed from the stump as its head fell to the ground. Its right claw, carried forward by momentum, deflected harmlessly off Jaune's shield. It knocked him out of the air, but left him unharmed. In less than five seconds, a potentially deadly situation had turned into a victory.

Pyrrha hastily dropped her arm as Ruby and Weiss turned on her.

"Did you do that?" asked Ruby. "That was amazing."

Weiss was colder in her inquiry.

"I know you did something," she said. "Explain yourself."

"I guess you could say it's my semblance. Just like your glyphs or Ruby's speed. Mine is polarity. It gives me a limited degree of telepathic control over magnetic substances."

Weiss nodded.

"And you used that to influence the fight. Is that something you always do?"

Pyrrha looked pained. Obviously, saving a life was more important than a personal secret, but the fact remained that Weiss had cut to something she preferred not to talk about. She took a glance behind her to make sure no one else was in earshot.

"I guess I can trust the two of you. Normally I apply my semblance with a degree of… subtlety that I lacked just now. But yes, manipulation of enemy weapons and armor, as well as my own, is a strategy I frequently use to my advantage."

"That's clever of you. Why didn't I read about it in any of your tournament bios?"

"Because I'm not compelled to reveal my semblance in them, or anywhere else. If people knew about the tactic, they would take countermeasures. That's why I use them as little as possible, especially on my opponents. My reign as the 'invincible girl' would be over in days. That's also why I want both of you to promise to never share what I just told you with anyone."

Ruby raised her hand in a salute that would have looked mock, if not for the serious expression on her face.

"I swear I won't."

Weiss was more reluctant.

"I promise not to tell anyone, but I can't promise that I won't make use of this information if the two of us ever fought each other."

"I couldn't expect you to. Hard to ignore a power you already know about, after all."

"Hey," said Ruby, "shouldn't we tell Jaune what happened?"

Pyrrha looked at Jaune, who had gotten to his feet and was now surveying the disintegrating corpse of the Ursa. Throughout the whole fight, he'd remained oblivious to their presence and interference. To tell him now would shatter any confidence he'd gained, make him believe again that he was useless without the help of others. Someday, after he'd come a long way, she would tell him.

"You know what," she said, "let's let Jaune have the glory today. I think he's earned it."

Weiss cleared her throat.

"One last thing, Pyrrha. That flash of light. I don't suppose that was you as well? Or was it Jaune's semblance?"

She shook her head.

"It's not me, and it's not his semblance. At least, I don't think it is. I've only seen that twice before, and both of those people had semblances that were unrelated. It's a sign of enormous aura reserves. Not all of them go into shielding or show up on your scroll, so you wouldn't usually know about them. But sometimes they can bubble up like that and… Well, you saw what happened."

"So, what does it mean?"

Pyrrha smiled and began to walk away.

"It means Jaune's got a lot of potential. He just hasn't found it for himself yet."

* * *

As the last vestiges of spike, fur, and claw turned to dust, Jaune acknowledged the possibility that he'd been hallucinating. Not the whole Ursa, of course. That was real enough. But from the moment he'd faced it head-on everything had seemed so _unreal_. The explosion of light that had somehow knocked a Grimm the size of a garbage truck off its feet. The shield—his solid metal shield—twisting and bending itself out of a vice-like grip. And of course, his sword. Apparently, it had invisible rocket boosters attached to it, because there was no other way it could have moved like it did. That was a question for his dad.

Jokes aside, a hallucination wasn't out of the question. Say he really hadn't blocked all of those attacks. If he'd been knocked unconscious, killing the Ursa might have been his imagination. But if so, who _had_ killed it? Did that mean he'd imagined everything? Had the beating he'd endured at the hands of Cardin's gang turned him raving mad? It didn't seem like it. After all, his surroundings painted a sensible picture. There were fallen trees, crushed bushes, stumps, and… Cardin?

Cardin had his back up against a stump and both hands on an ankle that was clearly very tender. Relief showed on his face when he saw Jaune walking towards him. To Jaune, seeing that expression directed at him from his least favorite person was so foreign, so different from the usual that he nearly laughed out loud. But he didn't. Instead, he reached down and offered the boy his hand, who took it gingerly before standing up on his right leg only.

Jaune was taking a gamble. Appeasement and kindness had never worked with Cardin before, and it wasn't like a broken ankle was going to radically change that. Still, this kind of situation didn't come around very often, and it was an opportunity to see how accurate his own memory of the fight really was.

"Did the Ursa do that?" Jaune asked, hoping he didn't sound like a crazy person.

Cardin let out a pained laugh.

"Not even, man. I tripped over a log and here I am. I'd be hamburger meat if you haven't stepped and killed that thing. I was so fucked—I didn't expect anyone to do anything, least of all you."

"I was up it the air whether you deserved help at all, Cardin. You owe me one. Maybe even two or three."

At those words, Cardin pushed Jaune away and began to hobble in the direction they'd come from, following the line of downed trees.

"I don't owe you shit, Jaune. Oh sure, I'm grateful. And I respect you a bit more. I'll find someone new to pick on if it makes you happy. But if you expect me to swear to 'change my nature' or some bullshit, I won't. I can't."

Rage boiled over, dissolving any empathy or hope of redemption Jaune had felt. He shoved Cardin. Hard. Instinctively, the bully's left foot dropped back to catch his fall, but it couldn't support his weight. He fell to the ground in a flurry of curses.

"The fuck was that for?"

The feeling of power Jaune had over his tormentor was liberating. For once, he didn't need to play games or make pathetic bargains.

"You see, this is what you did to me. What you did to my friends every single day. You beat on us, you hurt us, and you abused your position of strength. Look at you now."

"Look man, I'm sorry."

"I know you aren't sorry. To be honest, I don't give a damn. Want to show you're sorry? Don't ever mess with me or my friends again. Stay the hell away from us, actually."

"Jauney, Jauney, Jauney. Aren't you forgetting the information I have?"

"No, I'm not. I've saved every call we've had and every text you've sent me in the last two weeks. Together, they paint a pretty convincing picture of blackmail. That's a crime just a serious as cheating—probably a lot more. I was scared to tell anyone before because I knew I would be kicked out, too. But I don't care anymore. It's worth it if I get someone like you out of this school for good. I'm guessing you don't want that, right?"

"N-No."

"Good. Let's make a new deal, a fair one. You will stop bullying other students. Sky, Dove, and Russel will follow your lead. It's what they always do, anyway. In return, I'll help you out of the forest and neither of us will try to expel each other."

"That doesn't sound very fair to me. I'm the one that has to do a ton of extra shit."

"Too bad. It's fairer than the one you gave me. Unless—" he pointed at Cardin's left leg, "—you'd rather crawl back to the Bullhead."

Cardin took one look at his ankle and scowled.

"This pain must be making me weak. I guess we have a deal."

* * *

The message from Jaune had said to meet on the roof. Pyrrha knew it was no coincidence that he'd asked to talk to her here, the same place she had two weeks earlier. She felt optimistic about the meeting. He had been in much higher spirits since they returned from the field trip, but there was still the possibility that he had seen her interfering with his fight—or at least suspected she had. If so, all she could do was stress the importance of teamwork. Jaune would never become a strong leader if he insisted on never receiving help.

Pyrrha's optimism was bolstered by the nervous smile Jaune gave her as she stepped out onto the roof. The sky was clear and the moon was full and bright, signifying an end to the conflict that had divided their team. O.K., maybe that was taking optimism too far.

"Hey, Pyrrha."

"Hello, Jaune. No Cardin tonight? I thought the two of you were best buds."

Jaune's smile turned to a thin line.

"Not tonight, and not ever. It was never my choice, really, to hang out with him. Although, in the end, it really was. I just had to stand up to him."

"And you did?"

"I did. Way too late, of course. I'm surprised you still want to talk to me."

"Late is better than never, Jaune. I've always been available to talk, you just never asked. I was hoping you would."

"Huh."

"So, what's on your mind?"

Pyrrha listened as Jaune recounted what had transpired in the forest. She kept a straight face as he described facing the Ursa, which wasn't difficult as he seemed to be paying little attention to her reactions. He just wanted to let it all out. She bit her lip to keep a wry smile off her face as he described the way his sword and shield had moved with a mind of their own.

What had happened afterward was new to her: facing Cardin and forcing him to change. It was at this point that Jaune explained the blackmail that Pyrrha had suspected but never confirmed for herself. The situation they'd worked out wasn't ideal, but it gave Jaune a degree of protection. The hard evidence he'd collected was far more damning than a vague claim of cheating made by a loudmouthed school bully.

"That's all I've got," said Jaune. "Maybe now you understand why I acted like I did."

"I do. You did the best you could given the circumstances, you learned a valuable lesson, and you killed a Grimm by yourself, just like you wanted."

"About that…"

 _Uh oh._

"What?"

"It's probably nothing. I know it sounds silly, but that white flash I was talking about… that wasn't you, was it?"

Pyrrha was relieved.

"Nope. The way you described it, that doesn't sound like any power I have. But I have seen an ability like that before. It's the sign of a strong aura, something I already knew you had. With practice, you can learn to control it."

"Good to know."

They stood in silence for a few seconds, but not an awkward one. As Pyrrha mentally crossed off the problems she now knew to be resolved, she remembered what she still needed to ask.

"Jaune, maybe it's obvious, but does all of this mean you're going to come back?"

"What?"

"You seem like you've been under the impression that Ren, Nora, and I all hate you. Nothing could be further from the truth. We just want our leader back, and with Cardin taken care of I see no other reason why you can't."

"It's not just Cardin. After what happened, I barely feel qualified to be on Team JNPR—let alone lead it."

"Don't worry about it."

"That? That's what you're going to tell me?"

Pyrrha walked back to the door, pausing with her hand on the knob.

"That's right. Instead of worrying about how you'll lead tomorrow, why don't you come back to the dorm with all of us? Ren made pancakes."

He laughed.

"You know what, that does sound pretty good. And I'm sorry I didn't want your help earlier. I had all this macho stuff in my head about learning on my own. Is your offer still on the table?"

She smiled with her back turned.

"Be careful what you wish for, Jaune. I won't be going easy on you."

* * *

 **Is this two months of work right here? To put it plainly, no. I'm working on other things, a mixture of work and other writing projects.**

 **I also have an announcement. A Rose Not So Sweet will be going on a planned hiatus after I finish Volume 1, which I plan to finish by "Summer" (my amount of free time will dictate exactly when that is). This project doesn't give me a ton of creative freedom, something I'm craving a lot. That being said, I certainly pushed the limits of that this chapter. Not quite to the level of the old chapter 2, but I made a ton of changes and additions without adding entire new scenes. The end to the Jaune Arc _Arc_ (pun not intended) never felt great. One Grimm kill and Cardin drops the whole thing? This "counter-blackmail" idea seems more sensible, but I'll leave the judgement up to you. Feel free to tell me if you hated it.**

 **I made a few other changes, like moving Jaune's "aura burst" from the bullies' beating (which I mostly glossed over) to the Grimm fight. It felt more natural.**

 **I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for sticking with me.**

 **—Flok**


	9. Chapter 9: The Stray

**I would say "I'm back", but as explained at the bottom that's not technically accurate. Hope people enjoy this anyway.**

* * *

Chapter 9: The Stray

At the end of the Great War, the Huntsman armies of each Kingdom found it necessary to convert their hostility to a friendly but competitive form. It began with a simple, irregular gathering of Huntsmen and Huntsmen-in-training outside the walls of a Kingdom, with the location varying each time it was held. They fought as teams of four, in pairs, and on their own, just like they had in the field. Special care was taken to ensure all combat remained bloodless, as Aura levels couldn't yet be monitored electronically. After a decade of fighting to the death, it was a change many found hard to get used to.

The first few tournaments were dominated by the same handful of highly skilled adult Huntsmen. To combat this, the main draw was limited to those under the age of 21. This allowed for a new pool of the best and brightest to appear every few years, and ensured that no one stayed in the spotlight for too long. Anyone over that age was relegated to coaching, spectating, and participating in side competitions.

As the Huntsman Academies—founded at the war's end—grew in size and enrollment, the ranks of Huntsmen became increasingly organized and professional. Graduation from an Academy was practically required for the job. With more and more of the tournament participants coming from Academies and more of the organizers being their alumni, it wasn't long before an official integration was considered.

Conveniently, this coincided with the creation of a biennial celebration commemorating the end of the Great War. It had already been decided that a different Kingdom would host the festival each year and that a central event would be needed. With the tournaments following a similar schedule, they made a natural fit and were moved inside the walls for the first time. They became the centerpiece of the Vytal Festival, named for the island where a truce had been reached two decades earlier.

In this official incarnation of the event, new rules were put in place. Attendance was restricted to those attending Academies, which was functionally similar to the previous rules on age. To ease logistics and reduce the amount of cross-Kingdom travel required, preliminary rounds were held at each school. Each Academy was limited to twelve teams—even that of the host city.

The final and most visible change happened a few years later. Advances in Dust technology led to the creation of the Vytal Festival's most prominent landmark: Amity Colosseum. To this day the largest manmade object kept in the air, the famed stadium is kept afloat by sealed cylinders of gravity Dust affixed to its bottom. Being a suspended stadium meant it placed greater demands on aerial shuttle services, but this was offset by its portability and its conservation of precious space inside the walls. Its sheer spectacle justified the hassle.

Beacon Academy and Vale were the hosts of the 40th Festival, and students and civilians alike were brimming with excitement. Banners were hung and shops were tidied up in preparation for the imminent wave of tourism. The Tournament wasn't until early Spring, and Amity Colosseum hadn't even yet begun its month-long voyage across the continent, but enthusiasm was already sky-high. People knew as soon as they saw the first banners raised across the city: the Vytal Festival had begun.

* * *

"Why this is simply amazing!" said Weiss. "A celebration of beauty and culture like nothing else in Remnant. Finally, I can see it for myself."

Ruby nodded along as her partner continued to marvel at the freshly cleaned and newly decorated streets of Vale. They would remain that way for nearly four months, but Weiss had insisted that Team RWBY spend their Friday afternoon observing the festivities on the first day they were formally in place. Ostensibly she wanted to gather intel on arriving students, although it had quickly become clear that this objective was secondary at best.

"Yeah, it's really great," Ruby mumbled back.

Blake brought up the rear of the group. She placed each step carefully as she walked, her nose deep in a book. As usual, she was demonstrating her mastery of the art of reading, looking where she was going, and listening to the ongoing conversation all at once. The look on her face suggested the book was subpar, but still preferable to looking at her surroundings.

"Earth to Blake," said Yang. "Don't you want to see the Festival?"

"I've… seen it before."

Weiss turned around and narrowed her eyes. "You have? Where?"

"I mean, I did travel a lot, especially in the last couple of years. I just happened to be near Mistral two years ago."

"That doesn't surprise me. You've told us that you used to move around. Lucky you, I guess."

"I suppose."

Yang chose this moment to enter the conversation. "Hey Weiss, since you seem so interested in this kinda thing, why's this your first Vytal Festival? Were you not in Atlas four years ago?"

"No, I was there."

"But it didn't count?"

"It would, but Atlas doesn't decorate the way—I mean, of course they do. It was fine. I was just too young to appreciate it.

"Uh, guys, come on," said Ruby. "Is it really important if you've been to a festival before or not? Rhetorical question, no it isn't. Blake, you can pay attention if you want to, but you don't have to. It's not like all of this stuff is going away tomorrow."

Yang put out her hand for a high-five. "Well said, Ruby."

The four of them continued their walk about the town. With each window, storefront, and makeshift market stall vying for your attention, an undecorated building was more eye-catching than a gaudy one. Street after street went by, and there was one type of shop that remained consistently unadorned—unless you counted broken windows and a slapdash barrier of yellow caution tape. _Crime scene, do not enter_ , read one of the signs.

Ruby was the first to notice the pattern. The rubble on the sidewalk and shattered glass reminded her of the night from a few months earlier, when she had accidentally run into the famous criminal, Roman Torchwick, robbing a Dust shop. His men— _and me,_ Ruby admitted—had left the premises in a state eerily similar to what these other stores resembled en masse. Robberies were common enough, with high-end Dust emporiums being a frequent target, but this systematic burglary of practically every Dust-related store in the area of downtown was an impossible coincidence. Come to think of it, there had been something about this on the news.

"What's with these Dust shops?" Yang asked. "I know prices are up right now, and so is organized crime, but this is kinda ridiculous. That's what, the fourth one in three blocks? And recently, too. They're all still closed."

Ruby nodded. "I noticed it too. Remember that Torchwick guy they never caught? Maybe he did this."

Yang pulled out her Scroll, scanned it for a second, and then closed it. She shook her head. "I set an alert for him on my Scroll, where it saves any news articles on him for me to read. There's been nothing except a report from six weeks ago that he's still at large, and may have left the city. Seems like you scared him off."

That explanation was enough to dismiss the matter—for about five minutes. After encountering the fifth Dust shop that was closed, even Weiss and Blake had to take notice. This time, there was a car parked at the scene. Two men in button-downs and black trousers were picking through the debris, which looked even fresher than it had at the other sites.

"Excuse me," said Ruby, running up to the edge of the yellow tape line, "are you the police?"

"Police?" said the older of the two. He stroked his beard. "Not the ones you're used to. The police don't have time to clean up every mess. They leave that to us. But with how things have been going, we'll be off to the next crime scene before we ever finish this one."

"Hey Boss," said the other man, "stop talking to the kids. You never let me do that."

"Overruled. We're on break."

"Can you tell us what been happening here?" asked Yang.

"What's there to say? We've got a robbery—this is the eighth Dust shop this week. Maybe the ninth, I can't remember. Every store is on high alert but we don't have the manpower for it to make a difference."

"And all of these are related?"

"Remember Boss, confidential!"

The man turned around and spoke to his younger partner. "Shut up. I decide what's confidential around here. Go check the inside of the store."

"But you said we're on—"

"Do it."

Turning back to face Yang, the man continued. "They're being pursued as related, but we don't know anything for sure. The fact that one industry is being targeted like this is unusual. Dust is a cutthroat business, so I'd almost consider corporate espionage if it weren't for how crudely it's being carried out."

"Anything we can do to help?"

The detective laughed at first, but Yang's expression remained serious. Eventually, he picked up on the unusual weapons strapped to their belts. "Oh, you're huntresses. Student ones, anyway. Leave the investigation to the people whose job it is, but if you see a crime being carried out… You know what to do."

"Great."

Team RWBY was just leaving when the other detective came running back outside. "It happened again!" he said. "The safe is locked and intact. They left all the money behind—and a lot of it, this time. We have the deposit timetables for this store, and they have nearly a week's worth of cash on hand.

The other man clucked his tongue. "Unbelievable."

"It's like they don't even care about the money."

"They're being smart. They know that any currency on site is locked up tight, alarmed, and easily traceable, so they don't take it. That's why we haven't bagged 'em yet."

"Still, who needs so much Dust? It might not be traceable, but the black market for something that's perfectly legal is small. I think whoever did this wants the Dust for themselves."

"You thinking an army? Maybe the White Fang?"

"I'm thinking the two of us aren't being paid enough. Two lowly detectives, exposing a grand conspiracy like this for slave wages and no overtime?"

"That pretty much sums up the job. Ugh, those damn Faunus. A bunch of those degenerates were hollering at me on the street yesterday. Probably wanted to turn out my pockets."

Their complaining and bickering continued. Ruby, Yang, and Blake moved on, but Weiss stayed to listen for a minute. When she returned, she had a fierce gleam in her eyes and a new spring in her step.

"Of course it's the White Fang," she said. "They've been in the news a lot lately, and not for any good reason. Why would anyone expect law-abiding behavior from a group composed entirely of Faunus?"

"They protest," offered Blake.

"So what, they protest. It's all just a front for them to steal, kill, and terrorize. Faunus don't do anything better. Every 'protest' that's happened lately has degenerated into a frenzy of looting and rioting. Even murder."

"Why are you acting like every Faunus participates in that kind of thing? There's several of them _at Beacon_. And the White Fang isn't all bad."

"Who said it's all Faunus I have a problem with? I just have no sympathy for murderous organizations. They're nothing more than terrorists."

Blake gritted her teeth. "They aren't—weren't supposed to be murderous. Just a force to better the lives and equalize the rights of Faunus across Remnant. In the past few years, some of them have become… misguided, and now that's the only part of them that the public sees."

Weiss was shouting now. " _Misguided?_ They've made it their mission to exterminate humanity!"

"So they're _very_ misguided, then. That doesn't give you the right to pin these robberies on them with no evidence."

"Guys, break it up!" shouted Ruby, stepping between Weiss and Blake before they could come to blows. "Weiss, you might be right, but you shouldn't assume things. Anyone could have done this."

"Hmph. Doesn't change the fact that most Faunus are a bunch of scum. Show me one example of them doing something that isn't lying, stealing, or cheating."

"Why don't you show me one example of them doing any of those things?" said Blake. "Based on what you've been saying, it doesn't seem like you've had the slightest bit of contact with them over in Atlas."

Weiss resisted the urge to fire back. She paused, allowing a faint, dismissive smile to show on her face, then turned and looked out at the water and pointed.

"Then what's that right there?"

Before Blake could look, a series of loudspeakers crackled to life to answer.

"There is a stowaway and suspected criminal hiding on the pier. All dock workers and security should move to apprehend him. Keep an eye out for a blond Faunus with a monkey's tail and red sleeves. He may be in hiding."

"A Faunus?" said Blake.

"A criminal, don't you mean?" answered Weiss.

"Hiding?" asked Ruby, her hands already reaching for her belt.

Down a flight of stone stairs and across three wooden moorings, a muscular boy was running in their general direction. He was dressed in ragged and stained blue jeans, a completely unbuttoned shirt that fluttered behind him, and ordinary running shoes. But most telling were the blond spiky hair, maroon-colored leather sleeves, and monkey's tail that matched the earlier broadcast.

"That's the guy," said Yang. "I don't know why they said he was _hiding_."

Two workers with hard hats and grease-caked overalls attempted to confront the agile Faunus. They grasped at air as he slipped through their hands and continued down the mooring.

"Thanks for the ride, suckers!" he said, flinging a handful of scraps of paper and banana peels onto the planks. "Have fun cleaning up the mess."

Weiss twisted the base of Myrtenaster, selecting a socket full of ice dust from the ring around the scabbard of her weapon and locking it into place. Blake frowned at the movement, and Weiss frowned back.

"We _are_ stopping him, aren't we Blake?" she asked. "It doesn't matter if he's a Faunus or not. He needs to be held responsible for whatever he's done."

"It's not that," Blake answered. "Look at that emblem on his shirt collar."

"You can see it from this far away?"

"Yes, I can. It's orange and yellow. That so-called _criminal_ is a student at Haven Academy."

That made Weiss pause. Meanwhile, the Faunus boy had reached the bottom of the stairs leading up from the dock. "Perhaps," she mused, "he's stolen the clothes. If he really is a student, why was he on a cargo ship? Why are there no other students? I intend to stop him."

"You do that, then."

"I will. Just watch me."

Moments later, the boy crested the top of the stairs. A gleaming rapier and circle of blue glyphs blocked his way. Seeing them, he did a double take—but only for a moment. Then, he began to shimmer yellow and ran forward.

Weiss launched icy shards from every glyph she had, stabbing with Myrtenaster at the same time. Walls of ice enclosed the shining figure. For a moment, the glow shone through the ice. Then it petered out. The dark blue block trembled for a moment before becoming still.

Letting out a _hmph_ , Weiss lowered her sword. The rest of Team RWBY stood, flat-footed and surprised. In fact, they were so stunned that no one reacted as the boy stepped out from behind the block, flashed a cheeky smile, and ran straight past them.

Weiss's face turned from smugness to shock as she realized what had happened. She whirled around and feebly raised her sword just in time to see the Faunus boy vanish down a side street. For a moment she looked like she might give chase, but even in her irrational state she realized it would be hopeless. Then, she turned back around to investigate the ice block she'd created.

The magical ice, summoned by Weiss's powers, was melting much faster than regular ice, but otherwise seemed to be normal. There was no sign of the glowing figure that had been encased inside and no breaks in the ice where it could have escaped. There wasn't even an impression in the ice to show where the person had once been.

Weiss stalked in a circle around the cube she'd summoned, peering inside and examining each edge. Once she was finished, she loaded Myrtenaster with fire Dust and swiftly melted it. Then she turned back to her team.

"This cannot have happened," she said. "I didn't—don't—miss. I caught that little degenerate when he wasn't expecting it. All of you saw it. Does anyone disagree?"

"Uh, well, Weiss," Ruby said, "you definitely caught _someone_. But I don't know where they went."

Blake had a small smile on her face from watching Weiss stomp about, but hid it as she stomped up to her.

"Do you have something to say, Blake? I'm sure you're happy he got away, with you defending him and all."

"Nothing to say. Except that you're ignoring the obvious explanation. You didn't miss per se, but he was able to escape using a semblance. Fooled you pretty good for a so-called degenerate."

Yang grinned as Weiss turned red in the face. Blake didn't speak much, but when she did, she was one of the few people that could leave Weiss at a loss for words. Still, there were some hostilities to resolve. The fact that Weiss had shut up for a minute or two didn't mean the argument was over.

"Take a deep breath, guys," she said. "This is the second time we've been distracted by some sort of crime scene. It's not our job. Weiss, you wanted to come here to check out the festival, so let's do that. Things have been going really well lately. Let's all keep it up, and just—I don't know—try to be friends!"

Yang was expecting a caustic response from Weiss, but the voice that answered her was both excited and unfamiliar. "Are you my friends?"

"Who said that?" Yang asked, looking back and forth but seeing no one. She checked behind her, then looked down. Hovering just under her field of vision and a little too close for comfort was a girl Yang hadn't seen before. She took a step back in order to get a better look.

The girl had a head of ginger curls, porcelain skin, and a gaze that was fixed forward, unwavering, even as Yang waved to get her attention.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" asked Yang, crouching slightly to put herself in the stranger's line of sight. "And were you trying to talk to us? It seemed like it."

There was no immediate answer, but the girl's body seemed to unfreeze and she looked from Yang to the rest of Team RWBY. Finally, she said, "Yes."

"Uh, is that a yes to both?"

"Yes."

Yang blinked. "And?"

"I asked if you are my friends. But really, what I should have asked is if you would like to be my friends. It is important for me to make friends while I am here."

"Oh, okay."

Another awkward silence followed. Eventually, the girl's expectant expression faded and she said, "I will say it again. Would you like to be my friends?"

Weiss strode over to Yang and tugged on her arm. "Come on, Yang. I think this girl has lost her _caretaker_. Like you said, it's not our job. We should be going."

Ruby shot her partner a look before walking right over to the girl. "Hi there," she said. "We can totally be friends. "I'm Ruby, what's yours? Uh, I mean, what's your name?"

Green eyes widened. "My name is Penny Polendina," she said, shaking Ruby's hand vigorously. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Ruby nodded and turned back to her team. "Well? Aren't you guys going to introduce yourselves?"

Weiss's mouth curled and her hands searched for non-existent pockets in her skirt. Reluctantly, she stepped forward and shook Penny's hand stiffly.

"By the way," she asked, "why exactly are you here? I haven't seen you around before."

"I am here to participate in the tournament, and to make friends. I am combat ready."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Really? Huh."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Weiss."

"Uh, you already said that."

"So I did! It was a very important thing for me to say. Now, I will be very happy if I see any of you again, but for now I have to go. Bye!" Penny walked away before Weiss or anyone else could offer further comment.

"Well, Weiss," offered Ruby, "that's two visiting students now that we've met. Were they how you expected?"

Weiss sighed and searched around for a bench on which to sit down. "Not at all," she said. "I expected well-organized groups of students arriving on official means of transport. Perhaps we made a mistake in coming here so early in the Festival."

 _You mean, perhaps you made a mistake?_ Blake thought. She kept her mouth shut.

"Are we ready to go back?" Ruby asked. "It's going to be dark pretty soon."

"No, not yet," Weiss said quickly. "I think we should split up and try to find that Faunus boy. Not to get him arrested, mind you. But I would like to know why he's here. Is anyone with me? We can regroup back at the shuttle."

To everyone's surprise, Blake was the first to answer. "Sure," she said. "I'll check out the street market not far from here." Then she walked away toward a nearby a nearby alley.

"Well, that's settled," offered Weiss. "but where are the rest of us going?"

* * *

The market occupied two narrow streets and an entire section of the square by the docks. It was a semipermanent installation, but had swelled to accommodate the influx of visitors from the other Kingdoms. Rows of stalls were packed with people despite the late afternoon chill. A dangling banner proclaimed the sale of "local" goods, but few of them really were. Vale wasn't known for manufacturing, and it sure as hell wasn't a place where you could grow tropical fruits.

 _Sure isn't stopping them from hawking those overpriced melons,_ Blake thought. _I wonder if anyone knows that they're really grown by Faunus working for their meals, with no wages._

But the dishonesty of the market sellers wasn't Blake's concern. She was there only to satisfy her own curiosity, and maybe to stop a visiting student from getting arrested along the way. Assuming that the mysterious Faunus boy she was pursuing really was one. On the off chance he wasn't… she would deal with that later.

Blake's decision to separate from the rest of Team RWBY, particularly Weiss, was no accident. Having her around would complicate her plan to find the stray student from Haven, given how she'd tried to capture him as he ran by. Blake hoped things would go over better if she went by herself. Of course, that assumed she could actually find him before Ruby, Weiss, or Yang did, however they chose to organize their own search.

One advantage Blake had was an insight into where a Faunus, especially a visiting one, would choose to go. She'd been in that position many times herself, before settling down to go to Beacon. Her team knew nothing of her history except the short, deliberately vague backstory she'd told them. So far, they remained completely unaware that she was a Faunus herself. Weiss knew she had a soft spot for them, and there had been several comments about the ever-present bow that covered the top of her head, but no one had made the connection yet.

Irrational is it might be, Blake couldn't help but view the boy as a natural ally of sorts—even if she'd need to reveal her secret to explain why that was. She'd chosen to search the maze of stalls and storefronts because it was where she'd have gone herself. It would be the most familiar place to any Faunus. Well, at least to every Faunus from Menagerie. But the longer Blake searched for the blond stowaway, the less confident she became in her approach. At least to the best of her memory, there as no one remotely like him on the streets.

On the streets, yes. But what about above them?

Blake cast her eyes up and almost immediately found him. She felt like an idiot. To a Faunus, the rooftops were the second floor of any street. The boy was sitting on the edge of a two-story bakery, his feet and furry tail dangling into the square below. He hadn't made any effort to disguise himself; the unbuttoned shirt, jeans, and protective red sleeves matched his outfit from the docks and made his identity plainly obvious. His head was turned away from her at the moment, but with the view he commanded it was more than likely that he'd already seen her.

In this situation, Ruby and Yang's instinct would have been to run over and holler at the boy to get down. Weiss's response? Heaven knows. But with Blake being alone for once, she was free to choose her own strategy. And right now, her instinct was to level the playing field. There was a convenient scaffold down the street, but climbing it and jumping from building to building afterward would have attracted far too much attention. Instead, she looped around the square through back alleys, mentally keeping track of the weathered brick building that was her target. Sure enough, it had a rusted staircase in its back that led up to the second floor. It was an easy climb to the top from there.

"Excuse me," she called out from the crest of the roof. "Do you mind explaining yourself?"

The Faunus froze in surprise, sending the apple held in his tail tumbling into the street. "C'mon," he groaned as he recovered, "I was gonna eat that, you know." He turned around to look at Blake. "Hey, you were at the docks, right? Why'd you follow me?"

Blake found herself at a loss. Why exactly had she followed him? Sympathy, frustration, an excuse to get away from Weiss, and a little curiosity. But that mixture of reasons wasn't easily explained to a stranger. "Because," she said, "you attracted a lot of attention when you showed up. And not the good kind. For some reason, I think you're in the right in all of this, but I want to hear you out first."

"Okay," the boy said, striding up the side of the roof. "I'm Sun by the way. Proud leader of Team SSSN. Named after the thing in the sky. Nah, you guessed it, it's named after me." He held out his hand. "You do those… handshake thingies?"

"I'll pass. Where are we going to talk? It can't be here. My own team's looking for you."

"Uh, you're asking the guy who just came to town. I only climbed up here 'cause it reminded me of an old haunt. We could find a cafe or something."

Taking his advice, Blake called upon her own fairly limited knowledge of the downtown. She chose a low-key restaurant set off an alley. The two of them bypassed the host and seated themselves in the corner, away from the only window. Even though no one was watching, Blake had to suppress a blush at the seating arrangement. It made them look an awful lot like a couple, something Sun was clearly happy about with his cheeky grin. She was very tempted to ask him to button up his shirt, but that would only draw attention to the fact that she'd been looking at it.

"Let's get this started," he said. "So my teammates and I—that's Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune by the way—all go to Haven Academy. We were all super stoked after being chosen to go to the Vytal Festival. And not just any Festival, it's the 40th one. Taking place in Vale, which is the coolest Kingdom. Other than Vacuo that is."

"Huh."

Sun took a breath. "You're wondering where my team is, right?"

"Sure, but I was more interested in why you were stowing away."

"They're kinda related. So, the original plan was to take the train here, but it's not running right now. We then planned to take a boat, but the whole team wasn't exactly _on board_."

"So?" Blake said, deadpan.

Sun looked at her quizzically. "Get it? Anyway, the rest of my team will be along. I would have gone with them, but I wasn't giving up on taking a boat. So I pitched the idea to my boys of me scouting ahead. Quasi-legally, of course. Once I told them, all I had to do was hop on the nearest ship going to Vale and pray they had food on board. And here I am."

Blake couldn't help but show a small smile at Sun's story. It reminded her of the rebellious, but ultimately harmless adventures of her earlier years, before things had turned dark. "That's the silliest thing I've heard in my life. Was it too much trouble to get a ticket?"

"I guess it wouldn't have been too hard. And Haven might have paid for it. I don't know, it just wouldn't have been as exciting as sneaking on board." Sun pulled a pair of apples from his pocket. "See, I could have paid for these. They're like, a couple Lien each. But I just took them."

"You're trying to tell me you're a kleptomaniac? That's really not going to help my team's opinion of you, or any Faunus for that matter."

Sun grinned again. "Sure. That's a nice bow by the way."

Blake recoiled, at least partially because of the compliment, but mostly because Sun seemed to be indicating that he knew her secret. Or did he? Was it really that obvious?

"Thank you," she said, letting irritation creep in. "I try not to draw attention to it, to be honest. Are we done now? I've heard your story."

"Hey, don't go yet," pleaded Sun. "I told you all about me. This is the part where you—hold on, I'm thinking of the word—re-ci-pro-cate. Reciprocate. You gotta return the favor."

"No."

"What? C'mon, I used a fancy word and everything."

"Sun, I have to go meet my team now. I'm sure I'll see you during the tournament and I swear I'll tell you more then."

That promise was apparently to satisfy him. "Okay," he said, "but you mean that. You can't just pretend not to know me if your team's around. Work it out with them, say that we met somewhere else if that's easier. How about you add me on your Scroll?"

Blake held back another blush. "Sun, I think you're misinterpreting this. I intended—"

"Pleeeease?" Sun curled his tail and made sad puppy eyes at Blake, who felt herself loosen slightly at his goofiness.

"Ugh, fine. But _don't_ call me."

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were each occupying their time a different way. Ruby was doing her best to remain upbeat, glancing through her homework and making positive statements, but internally she was worried and couldn't focus. Weiss sat unconcerned, not paying Blake's disappearance any heed. Yang was pacing and growing angrier by the minute.

"I can't believe this," Yang said. "We're going to miss dinner."

Ruby checked her Scroll again. "Still nothing from Blake. Not that she's normally very responsive."

Weiss clucked her tongue. She pulled a mirror from her purse and began to fiddle with her hair. "There's a reason we're supposed to stay with our partners." Spying a Faunus across the street from the shuttle station, she added, "You know, the longer we wait the more I'm convinced Blake found that Faunus and ran off somewhere with him. If she hadn't located him by now, she'd be back already. And she's a total suck-up for their kind."

"Weiss, have you ever thought about why?" asked Ruby.

"Thought about why Blake's always standing up for the Faunus? Not really. My father always said people like her were just being apologists, claiming we're supposed to give them all special privileges just because a few of them were mistreated. Completely ridiculous. It's one of the few things he and I agree on."

"Uhm, Weiss," said Ruby, smiling nervously. "Is it possible there's another reason? Like a way simpler, super-duper obvious one?"

"Like what?"

Ruby took off her school backpack and began to rifle through. She pulled out a crumpled magazine and pointed at the cover. "I was reading about how some Faunus basically have a secret life. Some of them have animal traits that aren't visible, or that they can hide. So they choose to pass as just a regular person. Maybe that's Blake."

"Of course." Weiss nodded slowly. "The strange behavior. The defense of terrorists. And she's never told us about her family. She's probably ashamed of them—and herself."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "Weiss! How could you say something like that?"

Yang tried to defuse the situation. "Ruby, that's just a tabloid. Weiss, knock it off. Let's not make up crazy theories about our teammate behind her back, okay?"

"That's alright, Yang. I'm used to them."

"Blake? Where were you?"

The final member of Team RWBY had arrived undetected, making it impossible to tell how much she'd heard. Her face revealed nothing. "Let's go," she said. "I'll tell you on the shuttle."

* * *

Despite what Blake had said, she remained completely silent on the shuttle, glaring whenever Ruby or the others tried to question her. After returning to their dorm and flopping down on their beds to rest for a while, they were finally able to coax some answers from her.

"There's nothing to tell," Blake insisted. "I was just a little late getting back."

"Like hell you were," Weiss hissed, struggling to keep her voice from rising. "You were off with that Faunus from the dock. What else could you have been doing? You clearly never intended to catch him."

"Well, I wasn't 'off with him', but I did see him," Blake lied, weaving in a partial truth to hopefully steady her voice.

"Oh, well I'm so glad you 'saw' him. I'm sure the fact that you 'saw' him will be so useful in a few weeks when he's joined up with the White Fang and blown up a building!"

Blake's own frustration was building. "What would you have preferred I did? Arrested him? You specifically said we weren't doing that. And you're still assuming that every Faunus is a terrorist. Why? Why are you—and your whole family, I read the news—so discriminatory?"

Weiss looked to Yang and Ruby for support, but they both nodded to indicate the allegation was something she needed to address. To Weiss, the realization that the entire rest of her team even considered her possibly discriminatory was a surprising one. It put her on the defensive.

"No," she said. "I'm not. Well, maybe I am. But I have good reason. I'm no garden-variety Faunus hater, and neither is my family. We're victims."

Blake scoffed. "The Schnee family. Victims."

Weiss sighed and looked away, speaking softly now. "Would you like to know why I feel the way I do? Why I don't instinctively trust the Faunus, especially the White Fang? Because they've been at war with my family since before I was born. At first, it was just a war of business. But the more time goes on, the worse it gets. The more violent it gets."

Voice rising again, Weiss paced over to Blake. "It's the biggest joke in Remnant," she said through gritted teeth. "The Faunus all hate the Schnees, ha ha ha. They wish they'd all fall over dead. But it isn't so funny when it's your own relatives getting executed, is it Blake?"

"Weiss, you know I don't mean your family any harm. And neither do most Faunus. You can't just use them as an excuse to be discriminatory!" Blake stood up uneasily, putting space between herself and Weiss.

"I am sick and tired of having to daintily step around what I mean to say," snapped Weiss. "The Faunus in the White Fang are nothing but terrorists and murderers. And for all I know, you could be one of them!"

Blake pulled the ever-present bow from the top of her head. A pair of slightly crumpled, pointed ears poked up in its place. Weiss froze and gaped.

"You're right, Weiss," she whispered. "But at the same time, you're wrong. You know nothing about Faunus or the White Fang. And people like you are the reason we turned violent, the reason I left. I mean, what did I—no…" Blake's voice trailed off. She suddenly felt very, very exposed. Following instincts that had suddenly returned to her, she bolted for the door, hurriedly threw it open, and dashed out.

"She has… kitty ears," Ruby mumbled, stunned. "Kinda cute. They're almost like Velvet's. She never told us."

Weiss, too, was barely coherent. "White Fang," she managed to say. "Right under… our noses. Can't believe—"

Yang had already grabbed her bag and was heading towards the door. "Ruby, Weiss, snap out of it. Our teammate just left and you're both sitting there? We need to find her."

At further insistence from Yang, Ruby and Weiss recovered and the three girls combed the grounds for twenty minutes. Eventually, the came to an agreement that Blake must have gone straight for the shuttle, boarding the final outbound Airship of the evening. Three more Airships were scheduled for later, but they were inbound, suitable for return trips only. The ground route took nearly two hours by car, and in any event, the Friday curfew for off-campus trips was past. There was no way to get to Vale until morning.

In the face of this, the girls had no choice but to wait for the last returning Airship, two hours later. They sat huddled on a bench, none wanting to speak. Slightly before 10 o'clock, the last Airship docked at the edge of the cliff and its side door rolled open. It was empty.

Exchanging glances that ranged from uneasy to fearful, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang stood up and walked back inside.

* * *

 **Sun and Blake will talk again later, even though that is in the episode technically. This Chapter is plenty long as it is.**

 **Originally I said "racist" and not "Faunus hater"... it doesn't sound great but I'm playing it safe on my terminology. Race is probably not the correct term.**

 **I'm a little worried I've mischaracterized Sun here as being too flirty. He's supposed to be the heart of gold, and Neptune's supposed to be the flirty one. But does that mean Sun can't act flirtatiously? I don't think so. It's a different kind, after all. He's not trying to be suave the way Neptune would be. I included it because it always struck me as odd in the episode that he greeted Blake with a blatantly affectionate wink at the docks, only to go completely platonic for a long while after. Consider Sun's flirting to be "the wink, extended".**

 **Volume 6 is really a return to form for RWBY in my opinion, I haven't been this hyped since the Volume 3 hiatus. That would encourage me to write more, but… see below.**

 **Meta time. It's been two years since I started this thing. Two years! My own life was so different then that it feels like a different person lived it, and I am merely the keeper of their memories. I wish I could say this chapter marks my triumphant return, but in reality, it is more of a swan song. I will (barring real life interruptions) adapt and publish the final chapter of Volume 1, Black and White, but after that, I am probably done writing fanfiction.**

 **I would like to make writing, specifically creative writing, my professional career. That is not an easy task. I have the current luxury of being a student, sitting halfway between the threshold of adolescence and adulthood. For the time being I can without being worried about the financial aspects. But there is a depressing side to spending dozens, maybe hundreds of hours (I'm a slow as shit writer) on something that I can never monetize. Not because that's ever the primary reason, but it's enough of a reason. I'm also freakishly busy right now. I nearly derailed my school schedule just by taking a few days to write this, and I don't know how I'll pull off writing Chapter 10. I'll do my best.**

 **On top of that, writing fanfiction is like using training wheels. You can get better, but there are certain aspects it can never teach you. Like writing wholly original characters, worlds, systems, and settings. Rather than try to do those things within the constraints of an established universe, I'd rather just leave it. And that's what I will be doing. Probably.**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **—Flok**


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